I reviewed Justin Chon’s latest, Blue Bayou for Ebert. It has some major issues, but the story he’s telling here is urgent and devastating – and that still comes across. (I reviewed Chon’s 2019 film Ms. Purple, which had similar problems – an over-reliance on super-obvious symbolism, short-story-ish, amateur literary-ish. The rest of it is so good and such an interesting look at a sub-culture the moviegoing public – and America – doesn’t normally see. So … he has a lot going for him. His perspective is unique. I think he needs to retire his love of symbolism. He gets in his own way. Just my two cents. Still: well worth seeing.
