Hip-hop ping-pong film falls flat
In this ‘flix, the main character must choose between his love for hip-hop and his family’s traditional ping-pong playing ways.
Weekly ‘Flix Fix takes the legwork out of wading through thousands of film choices on Netflix, bringing you the most truly bizarre, quirky and outright amazing gems instant streaming has to offer.
This is not one of those movies.
However, if there is a desire to watch a movie that will make you cheese hard from beginning to end then this movie is appropriate for the occasion. The jokes are plentiful and range from benign to slightly inappropriate.
“Ping Pong Playa” (2008) follows Christopher “C-Dub” Wang, who leads an average life trying to land a career in the NBA while shooting some hoops with kids a third his size and half his age in the local courts. He finds himself at odds with his ping-pong obsessed family members.
Mr. Wang runs the family store selling ping-pong equipment while Mrs. Wang teaches ping-pong. They do not relate to their son, whom they feel does not appreciate the finer sports in life. Maybe they are right, as C-Dub’s antics are at times both ridiculous and stupid.
The plot thickens when Mrs. Wang’s car accident prevents her from teaching ping-pong. C-Dub is forced to ditch his basketball dreams and teach his mother’s students how to play ping-pong. Of course, because C-Dub is too cool for ping-pong, he approaches the situation with disgust.
The fact that the soundtrack incorporates old-school sounding hip-hop songs with names such as “I Like Cereal” and “Chinese School” only adds to the unique vibe this movie gives off.
This film is definitely a hidden gem of Netflix, and though you may not feel compelled to change the world after watching it, you will be left with a new appreciation of not only cheesy hip-hop, but the lovely sport of ping-pong as well.
