Rating: 
Summary: UNDER ONE ROOF - DVD
Review: Extremely bad acting, appalingly flat direction and an atrocious screenplay make this one of the most tedious films I have ever had to endure watching.
Rating: 
Summary: Not great -- but fun
Review: I can't disagree with others that this wasn't a great movie. It's certainly low-budget, not well directed or edited, and decidedly amateurish. But it's entertaining and fun, and maybe hits a few chords just a little too close to home.Daniel, the perfect Asian son, lives with his widowed mom and his grandmother in San Francisco, as filial Asian boys tend to be expected to. Also in the vein of the perfect son, he can't come out to his family, and his mom relentlessly keeps trying to set him up with women. The family rents out the downstairs room, however, and a cute boarder (Robert) shows up to take the place. Sure enough, the two slowly but surely get together.... This movie is not totally about Daniel and Robert's budding romance. Well, it is, but there's more to it than that. The magic of the movie is the family's reaction, Daniel's newfound priorities, and how Robert's unassuming yet formidable role in each. It's the standard stuff the coming-out flicks are made of, but hey, it always manages to tug at the heartstrings, right? We've all been there before, or know someone who has.... or at least we all know how difficult it is to stand up against unreasonable expectations. So yeah, everything about this DVD just screamed "so-so"... but it's still worth a viewing. Oh, and because this IS a DVD, after all... don't forget to take advantage of the special features, including the Director's Commentary cut. Some interesting tidbits in there.
Rating: 
Summary: One Missed Opportunity After Another
Review: I made the mistake of believing some of the provocative stuff on the back of the box about 'a mix of love story with exploration of cultural diffeneces' or some such... what I got instead was a standard gay soap opera. It was cute, and I didn't mind the production values or performances at all, and the sex scenes were very sweet and sexy, but at a more intellectual level this seemed to promise so much only to then fail to deliver. This would be ok were it not for the fact that the hype around this seems to present it as some sort of exploration of White/Asian interactions in the gay community. Given how non-white guys are oft viewed (if we are recognized at all) as trophies among some in the gay community (speaking as as a non-white gay guy), if we are willing to play out certain stereotypes, I assumed this would be quite a provocative theme to explore. No such luck here. I don't care what the description might lead you to believe - don't look for anything smart here. It's a nice gay soap opera - which is great at that level. Look for anything eles though and you'll be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: One Missed Opportunity After Another
Review: I made the mistake of believing some of the provocative stuff on the back of the box about 'a mix of love story with exploration of cultural diffeneces' or some such... what I got instead was a standard gay soap opera. It was cute, and I didn't mind the production values or performances at all, and the sex scenes were very sweet and sexy, but at a more intellectual level this seemed to promise so much only to then fail to deliver. This would be ok were it not for the fact that the hype around this seems to present it as some sort of exploration of White/Asian interactions in the gay community. Given how non-white guys are oft viewed (if we are recognized at all) as trophies among some in the gay community (speaking as as a non-white gay guy), if we are willing to play out certain stereotypes, I assumed this would be quite a provocative theme to explore. No such luck here. I don't care what the description might lead you to believe - don't look for anything smart here. It's a nice gay soap opera - which is great at that level. Look for anything eles though and you'll be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The minutes passed like hours...
Review: I think I must have been watching a different film from the one reviewed by some of the other reviewers. This film was so slow I started drifting off and thinking about work! The story line was utterly predictable and the acting was generally of a very poor standard - the most wooden I've seen in years. The woman who played the mother was surely acting for the first time. Just awful! Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Find another movie...quickly...don't even think about this
Review: I went to the store, picked up "Under One Roof" and noticed on the back cover that it received all sorts of awards. I was surprised about this because I did not recall reading many enthusiastic reviews on Amazon about this movie. Well, I was just too curious to let this go so I went a head and took the movie home thinking "hec, this movie cannot be a true disaster because it received many reputable awards". I raced to my bedroom, closed the door, dimmed the lights, took a deep breath, got really comfortable, turned on my portable DVD player, and quietly watched the movie. Well, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Yes, the acting and dialogues were quite stiff and most of the technical aspects of the film needed much rework. For some strange reasons, perhaps it was due in part to this amateurishness that gave the film some of its youthful, inexperienced charm. Anyway, I think the film does have a convincing story line - witty, touching, and sexy. Give the movie a try. You will be surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story and the white hunk is awesome
Review: I went to the store, picked up "Under One Roof" and noticed on the back cover that it received all sorts of awards. I was surprised about this because I did not recall reading many enthusiastic reviews on Amazon about this movie. Well, I was just too curious to let this go so I went a head and took the movie home thinking "hec, this movie cannot be a true disaster because it received many reputable awards". I raced to my bedroom, closed the door, dimmed the lights, took a deep breath, got really comfortable, turned on my portable DVD player, and quietly watched the movie. Well, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Yes, the acting and dialogues were quite stiff and most of the technical aspects of the film needed much rework. For some strange reasons, perhaps it was due in part to this amateurishness that gave the film some of its youthful, inexperienced charm. Anyway, I think the film does have a convincing story line - witty, touching, and sexy. Give the movie a try. You will be surprised.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst films I've ever seen
Review: I've seen many 'gay themed' movies but this one has to rank as one of the worst! The acting is horrible, the lighting is horrible...well, it is a low budget offering. But this is about as low as one can get.
The movie does have some redeeming qualities: the casting of the two leads is o.k. Not great, but o.k. The casting of the best friend of the Chinese Boy (I think the character's name was Tony) was horrendous. Where did they find this guy? I can't believe anyone would touch him with a ten foot pole. He gave me the creeps...yet he had so many affairs in this film...something that was totally unbelievable to me. I give this film two stars instead of one because of the believability of the two main leads. But the script, the supporting cast and all the production values are simply terrible. This movie was a complete waste of time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome Movie!
Review: It's Sex and the City meets The Wedding Banquet for young San Franciscan Daniel Chang, living at home with his clueless, traditional mother. Desperate for a grandchild, she's eager to see him married and spends much of her time planning introductions to suitable Chinese girls for Daniel. But when she recruits a new lodger for the downstairs flat, Daniel finds himself falling for Robert, the hot Southern boy who's moved to the big city. Well, Robert's not a suitable Chinese girl - but is he gay? And does he feel the same way about Daniel? Daniel soon gets his chance to find out when the basement floods and his mother insists Daniel share his bedroom with Robert while the plumbers fix the mess downstairs...
Rating:
Summary: Low budget, but I loved it
Review: Okay, first a word of warning: don't go looking for top-notch Hollywood production quality in this movie -- it's nowhere to be found in "Under One Roof". The script needs work; the editing leaves much to be desired; the acting is pretty bad; the music is even worse. And I loved it. Despite its technical flaws, I found myself wrapped up in the story pretty quickly, and by the time the end came along, I was grinning from ear to ear. "Under One Roof" may never win any production awards, but the story is solid and there are many great moments during the movie that had me laughing out loud. As I said earlier, don't look for A-list production quality. It's more like a film class project meets "The Real World" meets public access television meets soft core porn. Let me clarify that I don't say 'porn' because of the full-frontal nudity or the sex scenes -- they are almost always appropriate to the story in context (and the guys are cute!). Plus, I've seen MUCH more explict hetero sex scenes on network TV. I said 'porn' because that's what the acting and music quality reminded me of several times throughout the film. Despite the weak acting overall, however, there were some very real moments which struck a chord with me. When they happen they really stand out, at least to me. I gave it four stars and higly recommend it. If you overlook the technical shortcomings and approach it with an open mind, you'll find a touching little love story with quite a few laughs. I'll keep this one in my collection.
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