Blue Bayou Review
Blue Bayou (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Justin Chon and starring Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander, Mark O’Brien, Linh Dan Pham, Sydney Kowalske, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Emory Cohen, Geraldine Singer, Toby Vitrano, Altonio Jackson, Sage Kim Gray, Renell Gibbs, Martin Bats Bradford and Susan McPhail.
Director Justin Chon has crafted an amazing, human, emotionally devastating story about a family struggling to stay together in complicated circumstances. Chon’s new film, Blue Bayou, is a brilliantly acted picture that makes the viewer consider just how fragile stability can be and the movie also makes audiences question whether or not a family can stay together as a unit on the basis of love alone. Luckily, Chon gives us hopeful answers in the picture which stars Chon in the film’s lead role. Chon makes an impact on viewers in a very emotional performance offering some of the year’s very best on screen acting.
Chon portrays Antonio, a Korean-American tattoo artist with a police record who lives in Louisiana with his wife and her daughter from another relationship. His wife, Kathy (the always excellent Alicia Vikander) is a nurse who is pregnant with his daughter. Antonio gets along great with his stepdaughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske). Antonio cares so much about his relationship with Jessie that he lets her take off from school in order to see him at his job. He wants her to have a peaceful day off and would like time to bond with her as she rides on his motorcycle with him. Antonio may know this is wrong but he does it nevertheless which causes problems as the film’s story begins. When Antonio and Kathy are arguing in a supermarket, a couple of cops intervene and Antonio’s aggressive nature leads to him being arrested.
Kathy gets the bail money together but it’s no use because Antonio has been considered for deportation. Although he was adopted at a young age, there is a loop hole in the system in which people who were adopted during a certain time period are not technically U.S. citizens unless the paperwork was appropriately filed back then. This complicates matters as Antonio and Kathy are barely scraping by and, now, must pay a lawyer (the outstanding Vondie Curtis-Hall) to try to make a case for Antonio to stay in America with his family. That will involve Antonio digging into his past and contacting his adopted mother (well played by Susan McPhail).
Early in the film, Antonio and Jessie meet a woman named Parker (Linh Dan Pham in a touching performance) in a hospital. Parker is friendly and when she encounters Antonio later on, she tries to help him by buying a tattoo from him. We find out she is actually dying but she has a kind heart and wants to help Antonio and his family.
Another strong role is that of Ace, a police officer who is the biological father of Jessie. Ace, as played by Mark O’Brien, is a very well written character. Ace wants to be in his daughter’s life but Antonio has been accepted by Jessie as her father. The movie starts out as portraying Ace as a villain but later gives the character dimensions that make him more sympathetic to audiences. Another film may not have been brave enough to do that.
We learn that Antonio was almost drowned by his real mother and it’s a very unsettling revelation yet it helps the audience realize the value of human life. Although the system is currently working against Antonio, it’s his willingness to fight against all odds that makes us respect Antonio, criminal or not.
There are scenes where Antonio goes back into a life of crime to try to help himself and his family. Those sequences further complicate the plot which was already complicated to begin with.
Justin Chon is absolutely remarkable in the lead role. This story was not an easy one to tell and Chon makes his character understandable even if we sometimes know he’s making bad decisions. In fact, his poor decisions and hot tempered personality ultimately undermine the fact that he is an excellent father and a compassionate human being. But, there are good reasons why Antonio behaves as he does. His past is revealed and it is truly a sad one though Antonio has come to love the people in his life now and must do what is necessary in order to keep them by his side.
Blue Bayou is simply mesmerizing in its ability to captivate the viewer right from its opening scenes. Chon brings so much to the table with his performance that we can love Antonio and hate him even in the same scene but we ultimately care for his predicament and this makes the film a compelling one.
Alicia Vikander more than shines beside Chon adding another terrific, determined character to her already impressive resume. Sydney Kowalske is perfectly cast as Antonio’s stepdaughter and Vondie Curtis-Hall is in top form as the lawyer doing everything he can to keep Antonio and his family together.
The last moments of Blue Bayou secure the film as one of the most moving films I have ever seen. Chon’s performance is full of humanity and the situations the film displays are frighteningly realistic. It’s a tightrope that people walk on every day where the lines between security and insecurity are so much more close than we would like them to be. As Antonio’s family fights to stay together at the end, the viewer will be completely captivated and emotionally shaken by the events of the film. When Blue Bayou ends, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. This is one of the year’s very best films. It shows the audience the strength of the family bond and the healing power of love. Don’t miss it.
Rating: 10/10
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