Children of Invention


 Release Date: 2009

Genre: Drama

Stars: Cindy Cheung, Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu

Synopsis: A single parent Chinese American family faces economic difficulties and the mother turns to answering questionable "business opportunity" classified ads to help turn things around.  One day a twist in her dealings with these schemers find her two children waking to discover that she failed to return the night before.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot & Writing:                               

Great choice of subject and brilliant material but it was missing the extra push it needed to fully captivate the audience absolutely.  It was also a little distracting that even though this movie was shot in 2008 in an apparently modern setting, the mother was still using a pager and payphones and there is a scene where the little boy is playing a video game in a store that appears to be an old Super Nintendo.

Acting:                                    

Three really beautiful performances from actors I've never seen before.  The kids were adorable but also very talented and the mother made the drama very real.

Originality:                           

This is what is really going on in America and I applaud the filmmakers for opting to tell this story as opposed to the fantasy that is usually crammed down our throats.  I've never seen even a documentary that calls out pyramid schemes the way this film does so effectively.

Overall:                                 

See this movie especially if you need a break from the Hollywood status quo.  Highly reccomended.