From acclaimed writer, producer, and restauranteur Eddie Huang comes his directorial debut Boogie, the coming-of-age story of Alfred “Boogie” Chin, a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals, and the burden of expectation. – Synopsis via Focus Features.
BOOGIE is written and directed by Eddie Huang. His story of family and growing up Asian in the USA make him an authority on the subject matter. Did Eddie ever want to ball professionally? I’m not entirely sure but the basketball aspect is just a small element of what makes this film hit the way it does. The real focus is Boogie’s struggle dealing with racism and being an Asian man who wants to be great at his sport.
Cast
Taylor Takahashi as Alfred “Boogie” Chin
Taylour Paige as Eleanor
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Richie
Bashar “Pop Smoke” Jackson as Monk
Pamelyn Chee as Mrs. Chin
Perry Yung as Mr. Chin
Mike Moh as Melvin
Alexa Mareka as Alissa
Domenick Lombardozzi as Coach Hawkins
Steve Coulter as Mr. Richmond
Eddie Huang as Uncle Jackie
Charlamagne tha God as Patrick
VIDEO QUALITY
The video is a 1080p AVC presentation that is a clean-looking movie. This tends to happen when a movie is captured digitally and it shows on screen. The settings are highly detailed and make the world feel lived in. This goes for interior and exterior shots. Skin and fabric textures stand out as well. Colors are bold and have the proper level of saturation. Black levels and contrasting round off this nicely authored release.
AUDIO QUALITY
The audio is a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The music is powerful with solid LFEs that aren’t overwhelming. The city scenes are alive with immersive ambient sound. Effects are strong when balling on the court and the gathered crowds. Dialogue is clear and prioritized well.
SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING
-The Road to BOOGIE-Town: This is with Eddie Huang and how he cast Taylor Takahashi as the lead and creating the film.
-Eddie Huang: It’s Personal: This is also with Huang and how he created this fictional situation to tell a very personal story.
-Shout Out to Pop Smoke: This quick look at the character Monk and how he is played by Pop Smoke.
-In-Theater Trailer
Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc
Digital Copy
Slipcover included with the initial release
Running Time
90 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
Region Free
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish DTS 5.1
French DTS 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
French
Spanish
THE BOTTOM LINE
This is one of those movies that I have a hard time not seeing personal struggles of my own. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole today but will say that there are story elements that may be harder on some more than others. Both the audio and video have strong marks in the plus column. The extras are light but still informative. This movie shares some similarities with another basketball movie called HOOP DREAMS so if you enjoy films like that, this is one to check out.
