Cliff Lee

With the framing of doorways and windows, walk and talks and medium shots that let the streetscapes seep in, Park’s thoughtful direction helps to evoke the panels and pacing of Tomine’s work.

In recounting the protests and sit-ins against the institutionalized racism of a past era, it offers a visual field guide to what activism looks like in a community that, for some, is not traditionally associated with speaking truth to power.

The journey here, over all, is still worth it, full of Asians making jokes, talking dirty and getting it on – like any good rom-com.

Boogie is, finally, Huang’s cinematic realization of his dream, a debut filmmaker’s warts and all.

The combination of less-experienced actors with a deadpan script is hit-and-miss. The naturalistic performances give the feeling of real high-school students, but at times that vibe veers more toward high-school drama production.

The excellent cast (Moon Lee, Annie Chen, JC Lin, Pipi Yao, Ding Ning) inhabits rich inner lives, although the love hexagon they find themselves in could be comically described as the “man looking at other woman” meme writ large.