BAAFF 2023: Starring Jerry as Himself (by Law Chen) | Review
Starring Jerry as Himself, which premiered at Slamdance 2023, screened at the 15th Boston Asian American Film Festival. The movie turns a conventional documentary format on its head, and ends up being as heartwarming as it is self-reflexive.
Starring Jerry as Himself, directed by Law Chen, opens with the all-too-familiar “based on a true story” disclaimer. But before the viewer can feel comfortable, its wording suddenly starts to change. Flipping from “adapted from a true story” to “basically a true story,” it ends on a question: “what is a true story?”
Even before the movie begins, it demonstrates the self-reflexivity and tongue-in-cheek tone that permeates the entire “documentary,” always prodding the audience to question what is being shown. Naturally, the viewer is hesitant as Starring Jerry as Himself introduces its somewhat mysterious premise: Jerry Liu has just summoned his entire family to meet for dinner; neither his ex-wife nor his children know why. We are told this is out of character for him, but we do not know why.
Before anything happens in the movie, we get a small glimpse into the life of Jerry Liu. After getting divorced, he seems to be complacent with a life with the bare necessities. He lives with holes in his socks and in a one bedroom apartment with no decor.
For the past few weeks, Jerry has been mysteriously preoccupied with phone calls—weird because, as his ex-wife notes, he has no friends. He has summoned his family to explain why: two weeks ago, he received a phone call from T-Mobile telling him that his phone number is about to be canceled. He subsequently receives a phone call from a law enforcement officer in China, telling him that he is a suspect in a money laundering case—though if he cooperates, he can help exonerate himself.
Thus begins an espionage thriller told from the perspective of that one relative who kind of lies a lot. The movie does much to dramatize the retold events of Jerry’s “true story,” turning what began as an ostensibly normal documentary into a fantasy docudrama.
For the record: the characters in the movie are real. Jerry Liu is based on Jerry Hsu, producer Jonathan Hsu’s true father. Starring Jerry as Himself stars the Hsu family as their real selves. For this reason, the cast of characters have great chemistry—and perhaps because one of their family members is behind the camera, all seem very genuine on-screen. Jerry Hsu, starring as Jerry Liu, delivers a great performance in particular. He has the right kind of off-kilter charisma that while you don’t always understand him or the conflict he finds himself in, but you can still root for him. For his first-time performance, Hsu won Slamdance’s acting award—a testament to how an actor playing themself can be the truest performance.
But beyond any of its self-aware charm, what makes the film is that it builds up to one of the most impactful rug-pulls in recent memory. Though the viewer is conditioned to question everything—and deliberately keeps what’s real and what’s fictional obscure—everything comes together in a uniquely satisfying manner. It’s hard to touch on what makes Starring Jerry as Himself really work without revealing this layer of the movie, but you don’t want to miss the moment when all the pieces fall in place.
