Asian American identity is at the heart of basketball drama, 'Boogie'

Dana Barbuto
The Patriot Ledger

In “Boogie,” the directorial debut of writer and restaurateur Eddie Huang (“Fresh Off the Boat”), the title character has a simple plan: Beat his high school basketball rival; secure an athletic scholarship;  and get drafted by the NBA. Easy peasy, right? Well, not so fast.

Taylor Takahashi stars as Alfred ‘Boogie’ Chin and Taylour Paige as Eleanor in director Eddie Huang’s "Boogie."

As played by newcomer Taylor Takahashi, Alfred “Boogie” Chin is a Queens, N.Y., basketball phenom carrying the heavy burden of expectations placed on him by his Taiwanese immigrant parents (Perry Yung and Pamelyn Chee) and "5,000 years of Chinese history." He’s torn between following the plan they or set or charting his own course. Boogie also has a major crush (Taylour Paige). Worse, he must read “Catcher in the Rye” for English class only to discover he has zero connection with Holden Caulfield, the book’s privileged protagonist. To top it all, he’s clashing with his coach (Domenick Lombardozzi) over a team Boogie calls “hot trash.” That abrasive attitude does the kid no favors with college recruiters.

Working from his own screenplay, Huang crafts a coming-of-age story that carries an R-rating even though its vibe is all “ABC Afterschool Special.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it leads to plot predictability, namely those sports movies tropes that all come to a head in the climactic Big Game and the usual beats (clashes with parents, first sexual encounters) in coming-of-age dramas. Yet it remains a movie not easily dismissed.  In fact, it’s quite entertaining. 

Taylor Takahashi stars as Boogie and Pop Smoke as Monk in director Eddie Huang’s "Boogie."

Like most adolescents, Boogie faces a lot of challenges but his conflicting bicultural identity remains at a slow boil under the surface. And that dichotomy is something Huang knows well, penning a genuine Asian American story inspired by his own life.  The film also comes at a time when anti-Asian violence is on the rise. Full of heart and humanity, and a cultural emphasis on respect and tradition (the youngest always pours the tea for the elders), maybe “Boogie” can add to the national conversation. 

Taylor Takahashi stars as Alfred ‘Boogie’ Chin in director Eddie Huang’s "Boogie."

Huang sets Boogie’s journey to a cool hip-hop soundtrack and surrounds him with a cadre of stock characters propped up by a strong supporting cast that includes late rapper Bashar "Pop Smoke" Jackson as Boogie's rival, Monk. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. chips in as Boogie’s loyal best friend.  The standout is Paige as Boogie’s prospective girlfriend, Eleanor, who sassily informs her pursuer she doesn’t “(expletive) with ballplayers.” Last spotted stealing scenes opposite Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Paige provides a sounding board for Boogie to relay the significance of beef and broccoli and how it represents the duality of his background. The script could have used more scenes like that instead of cringe-inducing dialogue such as “you have a pretty vagina,” a pickup line Boogie tries – with no success. 

All things considered, “Boogie,” showing in theaters and on video on demand, is less about hoop dreams and more about the American dream.


Taylor Takahashi stars as Alfred ‘Boogie’ Chin and writer/director Eddie Huang as Jackie in "Boogie."

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