Christopher 'C-Dub' Wang (Jimmy Tsai) harbors dreams of playing in the NBA. The problem is, he’s not exactly tall. More to the point, he’s also not very good, his macho urban street-smart attitude masking an everyday suburban savvy that’s hardly intimidating. Worse, it’s also probably embarrassing.

Jimmy Tsai takes a swing in IFC Films' Ping Pong Playa

After his brother Michael (Roger Fan) and his loving mother Mrs. Wang (Elizabeth Sung) are injured in a minor traffic accident (which is partially his fault), perpetual incompetent C-Dub is forced to step in and teach the family’s ping pong class at the local Chinese Community Center. Worse, with his father Mr. Wang’s (Jim Lau) very livelihood (he runs a store devoted to all things ping pong) riding on the outcome, this social misfit must compete in a local tournament even though his love for the game isn’t exactly big.

What happens next? I doubt that’s even a question, because even though the new movie Ping Pong Playa puts a decidedly ethnic spin on things, this is one genre entry that doesn’t exactly break the mold. The whole thing plays like School of Rock meets Rocky, and within minutes I could more then tell that twists, turns and surprises weren’t exactly going to be all that forthcoming.

I’d like to say it doesn’t matter because director and co-writer Jessica Yu and her star and fellow scriptwriter Tsai craft an insightful and winning cultural milieu that more than makes up for the story’s cliché familiarities. I’d like to say I enjoyed myself because the characters themselves were so rich, complicated and endearing. I’d like to say a lot of things, because goodness knows during these freakishly lackluster last two weeks a ray of sunshine or two would certainly make the cinematic landscape not look so horrifically bleak.

Unfortunately, the only thing I can say is that C-Dub might be the single most annoying and distastefully anachronisitic central figure I’ve seen in a movie – Independent or Hollywood production – this year. There is nothing charming about this man, nothing that makes him loveable, and if he was even slightly worthy of my sympathies and my understanding I certainly didn’t see it watching this.

I admit, there are some funny moments (especially when the kids start helping their teacher boondoggle unsuspecting ping pong players out of their hard-earned cash), and I really rather liked the even-tempered and surprisingly resilient Mrs. Wang quite a bit. But the movie is almost irredeemably stupid, the whole thing following the usual blueprint so thoroughly it’s almost as if the filmmakers borrowed any number of other sports-themed comedies, changed a few of the names and nationalities, turned the central event into a ping pong tournament and then decided to call it a day. 

There is a part of me that feels bad about coming down on this one so hard. It’s not like we get very many Chinese-American motion pictures very often, and it’s always nice to be given even a small glimpse inside a world and culture most of us don’t normally get to spend all that much time in. It just isn’t enough, however, the freakish ineptitude of the writing and the sheer distastefulness of the lead making Ping Pong Playa a paddle smash to the head I can only hope to forget. 

Film Rating: êê (out of 4)

Additional Links

-  Ping Pong Playa Theatrical Trailer