Ping Pong Playa

Slacker Christopher "C-Dub" Wang (Tsai) dreams of playing basketball in the NBA, but settles for living with his parents and playing videogames when he isn't playing basketball with 4th graders.  His older brother, Michael (Fan), is a ping pong champion and doctor.  Their parents (Lau and Sung) own a ping pong store, and Mrs. Wang teaches ping pong lessons to kids.  When Michael and Mrs. Wang get hurt in a car accident, the family turns to C-Dub to teach the ping pong class.

C-Dub has no interest in ping pong, but starts to bond with the boys in his class.  He gives the students nicknames and Felix (Vo) and William (Chung) become part of his posse.  He also becomes the mentor to child prodigy Prabakar (Reid).  When two white, "English heritage" ping pong players, Gerald (Paige) and Tom (Lowell), start stealing their students, can C-Dub step up and save the family?

I discovered this film months ago on Netflix.  The film poster (above) and premise had me intrigued, but then I forgot it was in my queue until recently.  The film received mostly positive reviews, so I gave it a try.  The film is funny, following the basic outline of an inspiring sports film, with some interesting additions.

Star Jimmy Tsai (who co-wrote the film with director Jessica Yu) is funny, committing fully to indifference and ghetto trash talking.  He is a fascinating lead and has great support.  The kids bring out the best in his character, whether they are forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do or encouraging his shenanigans, they are funny and adorable.  One of the funniest scenes is the game they play after Mr. Wang leaves their training (it escalates perfectly).  C-Dub is interviewed throughout the film, for a local sports show, with a perplexed interviewer.  And the writers chose to replace all cursing (with one exception) with the sound of a basketball bouncing, which is funny throughout.

The film good, but juvenile.  A mindless, sports-centric flick, that will keep you laughing.

Ping Pong Playa (2007) 96 minutes
Director: Jessica Yu
Starring: Jimmy Tsai as Christopher "C-Dub" Wang
Andrew Vo as Felix
Khary Payton as JP Money
Jim Lau as Mr. Wang
Roger Fan as Michael Wang
Elizabeth Sung as Mrs. Wang
Javin Reid as Prabakar
Kevin Chung as William Lin
Peter Paige as Gerald Harcourt
Smith Cho as Jennifer
Scott Lowell as Tom
Stephnie Weir as Cheryl Davis