Saving Face

Teasing natural humor out of what could have been staid situations, writer-director Alice Wu makes a fine family-comedy debut, one that relies on honest characters and gentle wit instead of drowning its ethnic flavor in soy sauce. Tomboyish surgeon Wil (Krusiec) returns weekly to her family's insular Flushing community. Her seemingly conservative Ma (Chen) refuses to acknowledge Wil's lesbianism, setting her up with a parade of unappealing bachelors at Chinese singles' dances. But Ma has a scandalous secret of her own, and the actors make the struggle for mutual acceptance charming to watch.