Cheap Laughs Define ‘Finishing the Game’

MC Hammer delivers the best performance in a film aimed toward exploring Asian American male identity. That doesn’t sound like a good thing, and it isn’t. Perhaps “Finishing the Game” falters because the message and method are mismatched. It’s difficult to convey a complex metaphor about the literal and figurative death of an archetype (Bruce Lee’s unexpected passing), and maybe that’s why the movie turns into a Christopher Guest rip-off.

Incongruity may not be the reason for the film’s failure, though. The melding of race meditation and mockumentary could work, even without the aid of Eugene Levy’s parachute pants-sized eyebrows. The fatal flaw: The satire isn’t funny.

“Finishing the Race” is about the quasi-bungled attempt to replace Bruce Lee in his last movie, “Game of Death.” Poor Bruce died after logging only 12 minutes of footage, but that didn’t stop the studio from trying to profit off his presence.

The film introduces us to a cast of Asian male misfits, all striving to be Lee’s posthumous body double. None are quite like Lee, but all are expected to be sufficient ersatz martial arts masters. If this sounds symbolic, well that’s because it is.

And the symbolism is by no means trite. Asian Americans are given very few American pop culture idols, and decades ago, Lee dominated that racial facet of the national consciousness. The “race” to spackle over his death is a well-chosen vehicle for exploring ethnic identity. The mechanizations of replacement often make a salient point: White men get to represent most kinds of people, while men of other races are rigidly typecast. Hollywood tends to look the other way, even when a role screams for an Asian American (David Carradine in “Kung Fu” comes to mind).

The problem is that the brilliant symbolism is trapped under the wreckage of bad comedy. In many instances, it’s tough to pinpoint why a comedy fails. In the case of “Finishing the Game,” the answer is simple—the jokes are staggeringly unoriginal.

Lampooning the self-importance of limelight-seekers is typical mockumentary fare, and the narcissistic fodder delivers a predictable mix of self-aggrandizement and pathetic. This is true of Breeze Loo (Roger Fan), a B-actor who boasts Lee’s initials, but not his chops. “Breezy” is so steeped in the “talking about oneself in the third person” mold that nothing amusing emerges from his intentional unintentionally funny persona. We’ve seen the star who gives interviews while tanning before.

We’re also introduced to Troy Poon (Dustin Nguyen), the classic washed-up actor. In the past, he was a cop on a hit TV show. Though his catch phrase was “I’m not going to do your laundry,” the starring role was preferable to the slew of delivery boy gigs that followed. For some reason, watching Troy hawk vacuum cleaners seems more sad than funny. And like most jokes in this movie, the gag runs too long.

Poon is “represented” by MC Hammer’s cigar chomping, pimp-dressing character. Hammertime specializes in finding roles for minority actors, though he usually secures humiliating, stereotypical roles. That his character is an advocate for many a washed-up actor is some much needed irony.

There are other less amusing characters, like the Asian activist (McCaleb Burnett) who looks to be of the Caucasian persuasion (perhaps he needs more persuading?). We’re also supposed to laugh at the dumb innocent (Sung Kang) and his power-hungry girlfriend (Monique Curnen). Unfortunately, these cardboard humans do little for the movie. The attempted confluence of ill-conceived comedy caricatures dooms a promising premise. Like Bruce Lee’s memory, this topic deserved better.

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