‘Mail Order Wife’ sordid but humorous
Andrew, a documentary filmmaker (Andrew Gurland), agrees to help Adrien (Adrien Martinez) pay for a mail order wife in exchange for the rights to document the courtship. Adrien, a Queen’s doorman, has struggled with women in the past, and figures buying love is the best way to meet someone without going through all the hassle.
When he finds Lichi (Eugenia Yuan), a Burmese woman looking to gain American citizenship, he hopes she will be the answer to his romantic problems. Once in America, Lichi finds out that Adrien is a disgusting human being and Andrew the filmmaker begins to interfere with the relationship. And then things blow up.
“Mail Order Wife” is Gurland’s, and co-writer Huck Botko’s, attempt at a Christopher Guest style “mockumentary.” The film follows the standard set of “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind’ and television’s “The Office” – and does it with some success and some dismal failure.
The film’s humor is somewhat dark and laughs come mostly at the exploitation of the obtuseness of the American man. The grotesque nature of the comedy may leave some viewers unsure whether to laugh or to cry.
Martinez plays the disgusting, American slob to perfection, right down to the ketchup-based chili, the love for Jose Canseco and the low-grade home erotica. He begins to exploit Lichi, but figures her life is still better than it would have been in Burma. After all, “there’s no malaria in Queens.”
Yuan’s bi-polar performance as Lichi also provides some laughs, and poses the important question: “How many pigs is too many?”
And Paul Thorton as the perverted and geriatric Curt Botko is hilarious.
With the exception of Gurland, whose nice-guy antics seem largely contrived, the film is well cast. But the movie’s characters are despicable enough that it’s hard to know who to root for.
There isn’t much to the film’s soundtrack. Relying mostly on dialogue and background noises, music is used sparingly, which works well for the “mockumentary” style that Gurland is shooting for.
Directed by the producer of “Swingers” and the “Bourne Identity,” most of the cinematography is well done. The film uses faux-shakiness and intentionally choppy cuts to create a low-budget documentary feel. While this attempt doesn’t add much to the movie, it doesn’t detract either.
“Wife” starts off with a subtle bang, but begins to drag some in the middle. Laughs become sparse and depend mostly on the audience’s willingness to laugh at the more sordid side of humanity.
To the film’s credit, the ending isn’t overdone and a deus ex machina never comes for a group of characters with few redeeming values.
Despite its shortcomings, “Mail Order Wife” still provides enough laughs to warrant watching.
“Mail Order Wife” is rated R for language and some disturbing sexual material.
Aaron Falk is a critic at the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to him at acf@cc.usu.edu.