By Dr. Craig D. Reid
American TV icon and acclaimed international Vietnamese-American film star Dustin Nguyen will be making a personal appearance this Friday, September 24, 2010 at the 8:05 pm showing of his latest film FOOL FOR LOVE at San Diego’s Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & Imax theatre.
When mainstream America thinks of Dustin Nguyen, his starring TV roles on 21 JUMP STREET and VIP, immediately pop into mind. 21 JUMP STREET was the show that defined and made the Fox Network a name to be reckoned with as the show proved to the major TV networks that Fox was here to stay. VIP gave us a taste of Nguyen’s martial arts abilities in the guise of a non-martial arts role. To Nguyen, martial arts was not as important as his efforts to stay away from Asian American stereotypic roles, thus his VIP character was simply a man that knew how to fight and not a Asian character molded into the stereotypic Triad, Yakuza or martial arts expert so commonly seen on US TV.
To many of his fans, seeing Nguyen in a romantic comedy may be considered a new dimension, yet he pulled off an amazing dramatic performance opposite the Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchard in LITTLE FISH. The fact that he has received critical acclaim in several award-winning films, such as the ultimate martial arts villain in THE REBEL, a comedic Bruce Lee-ish role in FINISHING THE GAME and playing a mentally challenged young adult in LEGEND IS ALIVE, just shows you that this Asian-American thespian is a super talented actor that can re-invent himself to fit more niches than the ecological film-scape can create.
The biggest film in Vietnam this year, directed by Charlie Nguyen, FOOL FOR LOVE (DE MAI TINH) is indeed a beautiful romantic comedy about young hotel worker Dung (Nguyen; no wonder that name rings a bell) who falls in love with beautiful lounge singer Mai (Kathy Uyen). The snag is that Mai is the love target of a wealthy real estate tycoon whose willingness to employ her depends on her willingness to date him.
Yet the bulls-eye becomes more complicated as in order for the penniless Dung to finance his pursuit of love, he is forced to shack up with Hoi, a very rich and very gay businessman who is looking for male companionship.
Dung and Mai’s shots of love are put to the test as they hope the Angels of Love can shoot their arrows through the right hearts before they are left behind.
To find out if their love will prevail, other exclusive showings at the Edwards Mira Mesa on Friday include: 12:35 pm; 3:10 pm; 5:35 pm; 8:05 pm and 10:25 pm.