by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
My mom is from the Philippines, so any time a Filipino gets recognition, I’m here for it! I remember the Manny Pacquiao hype. It was well deserved since he is one of the best boxers over the last 15 years. I always listen to or read sports content from Pablo Torre on ESPN. My mom’s side of the family is mainly all in California — we’re a giant family that likes to get together when we’re all in the same time zone. When I lived in California for two years, I would get together with them when I could, which I greatly enjoyed. Over the years, I’ve grown to love Jo Koy. I saw him live in Milwaukee, and I loved his set. Everyone in my family both loves and hates him because although he’s hilarious, he also understands the experience growing up of growing up Filipino. I always wondered when he would get his break and go beyond stand-up comedy. Easter Sunday was his chance.
Easter Sunday follows aspiring actor and stand-up comic Joe Valencia (Koy) as he goes from the confines of southern California to Daly City on the south side of San Francisco to visit family for Easter Sunday. Joe takes his son junior (Brandon Wardell) to come and visit his mom (Lydia Gaston), cousins, brothers, sisters, and aunts. What ensues is the family drama and hijinks that make family get-togethers stressful and fun.
As a part-Filipino myself, this movie is both hilarious and gave me stress. A lot of tropes about Filipinos are true, such as Filipinos in nursing, karaoke, the constant Tag-lish (Tagalog and English spoken interchangeably), big sprawling dinners with an unnecessary amount of food, and family drama. It felt like I was watching a home video of one of the times my family would get together for the holidays, with Easter and Christmas being two particular holidays that got the most love because of their religious connotation.
Full disclosure, I’m a fan of Koy’s brand of comedy. It’s simultaneously triggering because I can relate to him, but also it’s hilarious. Easter Sunday has a lot of similar beats to Koy’s stand-ups, a lot of similar jokes, and a lot of similar stories. So if you’re a fan of Koy, you’ll surely enjoy parts of this movie.
Beyond Koy, some other performers stand out. Gaston is great — she really lets Joe have it a lot of times because she constantly is looking for a chance to get him to come visit more often, but she also loves him unconditionally. Gaston has a lot of funny moments, but a lot of emotional moments too. Of all the brothers and sisters, Arthur (Rodney To) gets the funniest moments. Jimmy O. Yang and Lou Diamond Phillips both get bit roles and are hilarious in them, even if they are limited. Phillips’ role felt a little like Neil Patrick Harris’ cameo in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,except less crude.
Some of the relationships really worked for me. I like Joe and his mom’s relationship, in addition to his relationship with his sister Regina (Elena Juatco). I also like Junior and Tala (Eva Noblezada) as they progressed in their friendship. Tala brought some down-to-earth love to Junior, who doesn’t quite fit in with his family
Beyond the humor, though, this story is an absolute mess. It feels very much in the spirit of movies like Dude, Where’s My Car? in which there are a lot of different things going on that is meant to create a fun environment, but is just sometimes too out there to be funny. The whole storyline involving Dev Deluxe (Asif Ali) went too far for a light hearted family comedy. Sure, my family would have drama involving money, but not like that. Also, the scene involving Officer Vanessa (Tiffany Haddish) felt out of place. I like Haddish, but this felt like she was asked to appear and they just let her ad-lib all her lines.
The biggest issue is that this group doesn’t feel like a family; they feel like a great ensemble, but I don’t buy them as a family based on their chemistry together. The biggest issue is Joe and Junior’s relationship, which goes from ice cold to inseparable awfully quick. I didn’t buy them as father and son at all because they barely have any moments together. The acting as a whole isn’t great unfortunately.
Easter Sunday will appeal to a specific audience, but it definitely won’t be for everyone. If you like Koy’s brand of comedy, this will work for you. Beyond that, it’s a clunky mess of a movie that does earn its emotional moments at the end. There’s so much going on that we don’t even get to spend much time with everyone as a family. Moreover, this didn’t need to take place on Easter, and it would have served just fine as a family gathering on a regular day of the week. Easter Sunday is a soft recommendation because of Koy, but proceed with caution everyone else.
Score: 6/10
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