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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Ping Pong Playa

EMAILPRINTIFC Films

Ping Pong Playa reviews
55
8.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Jimmy Tsai
Jessica Yu

Directed by: Jessica Yu

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 5, 2008
DVD: January 6, 2009

Running Time: 96 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for language, including some sexual remarks and drug references

Starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan, Shelley Malil, and Smith Cho

Christopher "C-dub" Wang is a suburban guy who sports an urban swagger, waxes political on all things Asian American, and clings to pipe dreams of a career as a pro basketball player. C-dub lives at home, works a dead-end job, and squirms in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, a doctor and ping pong champion. With a family-run store devoted to all things ping pong, the Wangs' entire world revolves around the sport. But when the Wang family livelihood is threatened by a rival ping pong player's attempts to lure the kids away, C-dub begins to take things more seriously. With the National Golden Cock Tournament coming up and an injured Michael unable to defend his title, C-dub must become the player he pretends to be and defend his family's ping pong dynasty. (IFC Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

A mostly amusing, appealing family comedy about going from pretender to contender, in life as well as pingpong.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Yu has a good time making fun of white people, in particular a pair of rival ping-pong teachers who seem inspired by the gay villains in the Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever."

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70

The New York Times Nathan Lee

A bright, nimble diversion, a quick-witted picture that's fast on its feet.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe

Tsai, who co-wrote the script with Yu, pulls out all the stops with his C-dub role, brimming with witty send-ups of Chinese-American cultural values and Asian stereotypes.

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70

Variety Peter Debruge

A good, clean, fun comedy that uses a table tennis championship to crack inside jokes about Los Angeles' Chinese-American community.

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63

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Has a certain silly, kid-friendly charm.

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58

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Even the championship showdown feels polite.

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58

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

He's a mishmash of cultural opposites, and his motormouth swagger is fitfully amusing. So is his backhand.

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50

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Frantically paced, littered with cute kids, and overstuffed with split screens and a rap score, Ping Pong Playa angles a little too hard for tween attention, but there's no resisting the movie's antic affability or its irreverence.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Something is missing here.

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50

Los Angeles Times Sheri Linden

Breathes fresh life into the tired, bloated sports-comedy formula -- while remaining utterly formulaic.

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50

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

This thin premise can't sustain a feature, and the racial and gay jokes are jarring, but the child actors are cute, especially Andrew.

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40

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

A decidedly lightweight amusement.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

ed h gave it a10:
A funny and entertaining film. Jimmy Tsai is a talented writer and actor, but his portrayal of Christopher Wang suffers from his "I think I'm black" mentality. That said Wang has some pretty hilarious riffs on whiteboys. Definitely worth the time to watch.

Bill B gave it a3:
I really, really wanted to like this movie but it just became an Asian sports movie. I felt like it should have ended every 30 seconds and been a commercial.

luzid p gave it an8:
I saw this at a film fest many months ago and really enjoyed it. It parodies the sport genre movies, doesn't take itself too seriously. Usually movies featuring men who act like over grown ten-year-olds really annoy me, but the Christopher Wang character made me laugh.

Dan H. gave it a10:
Absolutely hilarious! Jimmy Tsai plays his role as Christopher Wang (aka C-Dub) perfectly.

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