A man returns home for an Easter celebration with his riotous, bickering, eating, drinking, laughing, loving family, in this love letter to the Filipino-American community.
Easter Sunday – Film Review
Published August 24, 2022
Movie Details
Jay Chandrasekhar‘s Easter Sunday is definitely a promising step forward when it comes to significant diversity in the film industry, but that’s almost everything it has going for it. This is an extremely slow-paced and outrageously unfunny comedy that fails at its number one goal – making audiences laugh.
This is a film that prides itself on being an incredibly upbeat, feel-good comedy that’ll inspire you to be closer to your family and love one another. Maybe some viewers will leave the theatre feeling more appreciation for their loved ones, but more than likely, most audiences are just going to leave the theatre exhaling a big sigh of relief that they didn’t have to watch any longer.
The main reason why this film is so unfunny has nothing to do with its lead stars – it all comes down to the script from Ken Cheng and Kate Angelo. These are two writers that haven’t worked on too many things before (with the exception of Angelo, who penned the abysmally bad Sex Tape), so perhaps they just weren’t skilled enough in their career yet to be writing a major comedy motion picture.
All of the jokes in this film feel like the type of jokes you’d hear in a kids movie. Even the rare times when the film actually makes an attempt to do some adult-themed jokes, they, too, feel half-baked. There wasn’t a single moment where Easter Sunday made me laugh.
There was also something about Chandrasekhar’s direction that bothered me. For the first little while, it was tricky to put a finger on what was so off about it, but during the thirty minute mark or so, it dawned on me. Easter Sunday legitimately feels like an over-extended car commercial or something.
The lighting is the same, as is the camerawork, angles, and overall tone. This likely wasn’t intentional, but that’s definitely the way the film came across. After this realization dawned on me, it genuinely became difficult to look past it because it was just so glaring.
Jo Koy is an extremely likeable comedian in real life, but in this film, he struggles to find a balance between who he really is and his character Joe Valencia. It’s nearly impossible to not see Koy in the role, which wouldn’t be too big of a problem if he could actually deliver a good performance.
Easter Sunday has its heart in the right place, but an unfunny script and poor direction make this a comedy you’ll want to forget.