Chan Is Missing Movie Review

Chan Is Missing is the first movie I saw in a theatre that I remember trying to press the pause button so I could rewind the film to see a favorite sequence twice (I got my first VCR in May, 1982). Obviously, I couldn't do it, but the impulse was there. It's about a couple of taxi drivers in San Francisco who hunt for Chan after he vanishes with their five grand meant to pay for a taxi license. The great black-and-white footage of Chinatown captures the look, pace, and feel of the neighborhood in the early ‘80s, and Wayne Wang gets performances out of his then-unknown cast. Chan Is Missing launched Wayne Wang's successful career as a director and also gave us a chance to see future director Peter Wang (A Great Wall, Laserman) as Henry the Cook. Laureen Chew (Amy) was in Dim Sum, Wayne Wang's next picture, and Marc Hayashi (Steve) co-starred with Peter Wang in Laserman.

1982 80m/B Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi, Laureen Chew, Judy Mihei, Peter Wang, Presco Tabios, Frankie Allarcon, Virginia Cerenio, Roy Chan, George Woo, Emily Yamasaki, Ellen Yeung; D: Wayne Wang; W: Wayne Wang, Terrel Seltzer, Isaac Cronin; C: Michael G. Chin; M: Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo. VHS