I just saw Crazy Rich Asians with my coworkers this Sunday!! The beginning was pretty consistent with the book, but as the film continued I noticed the film writers deviated at times to accelerate and simplify the plot–the overall effect of some of the deviations made the film come off at times as a bit choppy. However, generally speaking, I think it was a successful adaptation (it helps that Kevin Kwan co-executive produced it, because the changes didn’t fundamentally alter the overall experience for viewers who had read the book). The three changes that stood out to me involved Peik Lin and her family, Astrid and her husband Michael, and Nick and Rachel’s engagement.
Peik Lin and her family were eccentric in the book, but I have to give mad props to Nora Lum (a.k.a. Awkwafina) because she elevated the character. While in the book Peik Lin was not invited to the Young mansion, her being prepared with three outfits in her luxury car for an in case anything happens situation in the film put a smile on my face. Also, her stereotypically “new money behavior” struck comedy gold. Rachel’s initial visit to the Goh residence (Peik Lin’s family’s surname), marked what I believe was the beginning of the deviation to simplify the plot. In the book the Goh’s aren’t aware of who the Youngs are; and trying to figure out who the Youngs are becomes its own subplot for the Gohs. In the film, on the other hand, the Gohs are aware of who the Young family is, and they step in to help Rachel assimilate to the crazy rich Asian life. This change in the Gohs and their purpose for the film, I feel, worked.
Now, this Astrid and Michael situation was simplified. Astrid Leong, Nick’s cousin, is married to Michael who works at a tech start-up. In the book, the couple has an extended story line in which A LOT is revealed. First, the message Astrid read on Michael’s phone leads her to question a lot. She goes shopping at her favorite jeweler’s and learns from the jeweler that Michael purchased a charm bracelet. Only problem is, unbeknownst to the jeweler, Astrid never got the bracelet. Then, at a family gathering someone casually mentions having seen someone who looked like Michael with a kid in China. As a reader you feel like Michael is a douchebag, but then you learn he staged the affair to get Astrid to dump him–which is extra as hell. Michael had been treated as less than for not having come from old money himself and was tired of Astrid tip toeing around him with her purchases, and dealing with her condescending family. What made this relationship even more complex was when Astrid ran into her ex, who helps her get the answers she’s looking for with Michael before Michael comes clean about staging the affair. This is the same ex who still loves Astrid, and not being able to bear seeing her unhappy makes sure to secretly invest in Astrid’s husband’s tech company so Michael can finally get the financial success he’s looking for in order to live a life he feels Astrid deserves, and will also shut up the naysayers in her family. Y’all I shed an internal tear when that went down in the book.
The last change I wish to address, but by no means represents the total amount of changes in the film adaptation from the book, is Nick’s engagement to Rachel. In the film he proposes twice, but I only remember one engagement in the book. One that involved traveling to some island where Nick is thwarted by his mother who ambushes Rachel with new information about Rachel’s father. Rachel thought her father died, but Mrs. Young says Rachel’s father is alive and in jail in China. Rachel later learns from her own mother that the man in jail, while he was her husband, is not actually Rachel’s father. Anyway, when Nick proposes in the book it was not on an airplane with his mother’s engagement ring (which I actually was not mad at because of the way the film made a point about sharing the history of the ring). I’m a sucker for sentiment, so the ring was cute.
In closing, Crazy Rich Asians the film is not a play by play of the book. Some creative decisions were made, in my opinion, to simplify the story and accelerate the plot. I’m really happy, as a movie goer, to see actors who are rarely afforded the opportunity to share their craft as frequently as some of their peers. I hope this film does well enough that somebody can complete the film adaptations for the other two books. I also hope that they improve the watching experience by making the films less choppy. For example, y’all should’ve explained how Nick and Colin were able to ditch that boat in the middle of the water. The readers knew, but not all viewers were readers. Just some food for thought.