Set around a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday, the comedy is based on Jo Koy’s life experiences and stand-up comedy.
“Easter Sunday” explores the travails of an American Filipino family living in Northern California. It’s standard fare but with a cross-cultural flavor that adds a welcome twist to the mix.
Jo Koy is Joe Valencia, a moderately successful stand-up comic and spokesperson for Budweiser Zero (as in zero alcohol). Everyone he meets seems to know Joe. Striving for the next level, Joe is up for a supporting role in a new sitcom as a quirky Filipino neighbor but is portrayed more as a stereotype. The producers want Joe to don a thick accent for the character, a suggestion from which he recoils and jeopardizes his chances of getting the part.
Although a decidedly engaging actor, it’s hard not to surmise that Koy tries a bit too hard to channel a Filipino version of Ryan Reynolds – with mixed success. Endearing at first, the longer he’s onscreen, the more annoying the similarities between the two become.
Lydia Gaston as Joe’s mother, Susan, sports the sort of Filipino accent that Joe doesn’t have and doesn’t want to feign for the sitcom gig. She is loving but also demanding, as recounted by Joe when explaining how he broke both wrists learning to ride a bicycle. Even after falling, Lydia urged him to get back on and try again.
Tia Carrere is Tita Theresa, Lydia’s sister with whom she endlessly feuds. The two mix things up to good effect, eventually finding common ground for reconciliation. Joe’s food truck business partner is Eugene (Eugene Cordero), Theresa’s son. However, he spends so much time with Lydia that she has nothing but praise for him, regularly referring to Eugene as “such a nice boy.”
Brandon Wardell plays Junior, Joe’s son. His high school love interest, Ruth, is played by Eva Noblezada. The two meet when Junior attends an Easter Sunday luncheon in Daly City, south of San Francisco. Junior attends a private school on the north side of town where he struggles with math, while Ruth goes to a nearby public school in Daly City, living a somewhat more grounded existence.
Trouble ensues when Joe learns that Eugene has stolen Manny Pacquiao’s boxing gloves from Dev Deluxe (Asif Ali), a gangster who had stolen them from the boxer himself earlier. Dev Deluxe’s posse successfully intimidates Eugene and Joe, forcing them to find a buyer for the purloined gloves. Reluctantly, Joe brings Junior along for the ride, where he once again runs into Ruth – this time at the mall in a jewelry store owned by Deluxe.
The prospective buyer for the boxing gloves is Lou Diamond Phillips, who does a nice turn as himself – with references to “La Bamba” and “Young Guns” adding icing to the cake. The actor plans to star in a biopic about Manny Pacquiao and wants to use the gloves to lend authenticity to the role. Phillips has more than a bit of fun with his part and hams things up delightfully.
The film is directed by Jay Chandrasekhar – who also plays Joe’s agent, always pretending to drive into a canyon or through a tunnel, and thus “losing” Joe’s signal rather than listening to his client’s concerns mostly hits all the right notes. The story and screenplay come from Ken Cheng, with Kate Angelo also receiving writing credit.
“Easter Sunday” provides laughs and pathos in roughly equal measure, coming to a predictable conclusion as the closing credits roll. Fortunately, the ride along the way consistently entertains well enough and will leave most audiences more than satisfied with the end result.
Now available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray™ and DVD October 18th
