It is unexpected to see vintage romcom values upheld in an indie movie populated almost exclusively by Filipino-Americans. Tony award-winning producer Jhett Tolentino at least has a good high-concept hook for his feature directorial debut: a beleaguered divorcee tries to get out of paying alimony to his ex-wife by making a fake dating profile to bag her a new partner. Sadly, this tonally shaky and borderline-sociopathic outing doesn’t have the class or skill to be part of the much-needed renaissance for the genre.
Asian Persuasion takes place on the great New York dating grounds beloved of many a romcom: feckless single dad Mickey (Dante Basco, who played the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg’s Hook) is struggling to elevate his Queens coffee shop, Da Fili Beans, to hipster notoriety. Ponying up payments to his fashion designer ex Avery (KC Concepcion) as they co-parent their daughter isn’t helping. So during a night on the lash with his wingman Caspian (Kevin Kreider), they cook up a scheme to make her someone else’s problem; preppy financial analyst Lee-Kwan (Paolo Montalban) is the man they target as their best hope.
