Throngs at movie premiere

Update Sept. 23: Hundreds of adoring fans of Hong Kong movie star Edison Chen showed up to yell and mob their heart-throb in the lobby of the AMC Santa Anita 16 Friday night at the Westfield Santa Anita mall (see two-minutes of video highlights below).

Chen was one of a quartet of cast members in attendance for the premiere of independent romantic comedy/family drama “Almost Perfect,” that offers offers impressive performances by an ensemble cast in a very American story of family relationship challenges as portrayed by a mostly Asian cast speaking in English (trailer below).

Star Kelly Hu (“Hawaii Five-O,” “Nash Bridges,” and numerous cartoon and video game voice roles) told Arcadia’s Best that she loves coming to Arcadia for Dim Sum and the Din Tai Fung dumpling house (see two-min video interviews below), but the reason the film was premiering in Arcadia was to appeal the majority of Asians in town.

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The cast includes Hawaiian-born Hu as the adult daughter whose role as the family peacemaker and unwavering supporter of the dysfunctional behavior of her siblings and parents prevents her from devoting the time needed to her new boyfriend (Ivan Shawn). Canadian-born Chen plays the irresponsible younger brother, with Tina Chen (no relation to Edison) as the self-centered and demanding mother, and British actor Roger Rees as the verbally abrasive father.

“Almost Perfect” is booked for at least a one-week run at AMC Santa Anita, where tickets may be ordered online.

– By Scott Hettrick

Details of the plot and characters of “Almost Perfect,” directed by Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, are below the following trailer embedded here from YouTube.

Synopsis: When you need a ride from the airport, you call Vanessa (Kelly Hu). When your boyfriend leaves, you call Vanessa. When you need someone to take over the family business, you call Vanessa — and she’ll never, ever say no. At 34, she’s still her large and boisterous family’s go-to girl, with a threadbare excuse of a life of her own. Suddenly, she runs into an old friend (Ivan Shaw), the almost perfect guy who just might be perfect for her. But, as those sparks fly, her family starts to go up in flames. Her high-maintenance fashion designer sister (Christina Chang) is on the brink; her surf bum brother (Edison Chen) has gone AWOL; and her over-analyzing, over-intellectual mother (Tina Chen) has barred her father (Roger Rees) from their home, sending him into his own mid-life crisis. They all need Vanessa, all the time, to fix all the problems. Trapped in the eye of the storm, Vanessa has to find her way back to love. In the process, she discovers that the only person she really has to save is — herself!