Review of EASTER SUNDAY: Filipino Family Frenzy

 August 31, 2022

Fil-Am actor Joe Valencia (Jo Koy) was auditioning for a role in a sitcom which caused him to miss an important meeting with the teachers of his son Junior (Brandon Wardell). To make up for this, he brought Junior along with him on a road trip to Daly City to attend their yearly family reunion on Easter Sunday. Hosting the dinner was Joe's domineering mother Susan (Lydia Gaston), who still had a long-running feud with her sister Theresa (Tia Carrere).

Joe's cousin Eugene (Eugene Cordero) got mixed up with a ruthless loan shark Dev Deluxe (Asif Ali) to finance the "hype truck" he invested in. Dev threatened Eugene (along with his famous cousin Joe) to pay the $40,000 he owed him that same night or else. However, that same night, Joe's manager Nick (Joe Chandrasekhar, also this film's director) got him a ticket to fly back to LA to argue his case in front of studio executives of the sitcom. 

As Joe Valencia, Fil-Am stand-up comedian Jo Koy practically played a less successful version of himself, one still struggling to get jobs as a comedian on TV. Jo Koy was not exactly a film comedian, so his performance can sort of feel tentative and forced, trying harder than usual to be "funny." This was especially apparent with his scenes side by side with Eugene Cordero, who was more relaxed in his portrayal of the rascal Eugene. 

As Susan, Lydia Gaston is the personification of the Filipino mother whom Jo Koy always brought up in all his comedy spiels. Her Susan can go too far sometimes, but it was fun hearing her excitable Tagalog lines in several scenes.  Because of her role as Susan's nemesis, 90s Fil-Am bombshell Tia Carrere was limited only in playing her character Theresa as being obsessively competitive. Too bad we do not see more range from her. 

For me, the best performer in this film was Eva Noblezada, who had a positively radiant screen presence and an easy natural feel about her acting. She is a 2-time Tony Award nominated young Fil-Am actress for her roles in the 2017 revival of "Miss Saigon" and the 2019 original run of "Hadestown." She had good chemistry going with 29 year-old actor Brandon Wardell who was still playing a high school senior here.  

Admittedly, not all the gags fly here, even for Filipino viewers. I don't know why the writers would think jokes about the Sto. Nino statue would be funny, particularly Ken Cheng who grew up in the Philippines before migrating to the US in the 80s. In the story, Joe Valencia was resistant to accepting a role because the producers wanted him to use a Filipino accent. So it is quite ironic that everyone in this film spoke in exaggerated Filipino accents! 

However, it was heartening to watch Filipino family dynamics in a mainstream Hollywood movie. This may be the first film where Daly City (whose population is 35% Filipino) is the main setting. There were amusing mentions of favorite Filipino topics like Manny Pacquiao (and his birthday), balisong, halo-halo, balikbayan box, etc. Seeing Lou Diamond Phillips play himself in a surprise guest role was a big plus.  6/10.