Ali Wong and Steven Yeun shine in comedy thrill ride 'Beef': our SXSW review
The simmering unease that bubbles beneath every scene in creator Lee Sung Jin’s nerve-frazzling dramedy “Beef” was so intense that it caused both of the Netflix show’s stars to break out in hives by the end of production.
For Ali Wong who embodies Amy Lau, an entrepreneur trying to take her business to the next level, the hives were on her face. Steven Yeun, who brilliantly plays Danny Cho, a failing contractor at the end of his rope, broke out all over his body.
“It definitely took a toll on us that we didn’t even realize until after the show,” Wong said after a screening of the first two episodes at the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival on Saturday.
“Our bodies shut down afterwards,” Yeun agreed.
A road rage incident sets off the breathless thrill ride of a series.
Danny’s working man’s pickup and Amy’s immaculate white Mercedes almost collide in the parking lot of a home improvement store. The destructive cross-town chase that follows spurs an ongoing demolition derby that rapidly escalates from petty sniping to life-altering acts of revenge.
Both characters were already teetering on unstable ground. Married to George Nakai (Joseph Lee), the genial but spineless son of a spectacularly wealthy designer (Patti Yasutake), self-made Amy feels trapped. Her husband can’t understand her relentless drive and her critical mother-in-law seems to undermine her vision at every turn.
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Wong shines in her first dramatic role, capturing Amy’s splintering emotional core as she tries to balance motherhood, ambition and a feeling of displacement in the world of the uber-rich. In a moment of frustration she reminds her husband that even the Buddha was able to give up everything only because he was a prince. “He had something to renounce,” she says.
Class issues are at the heart of the show. Danny lost the family hotel because of a shady cousin’s underworld dealings and now, with his parents forced to return to Korea, he is struggling to scrape together enough money to sustain a modest life with his layabout brother Paul (Young Mazino).
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Mazino’s goofy cluelessness works as a perfect comedic foil for Yeun’s burning intensity, and Lee’s affable ignorance does the same for Wong. But as far as comedies go, this is a very dark one, with as many uncomfortable stomach turners as laugh-out loud moments.
“There’s so much that is absurd about it,” show creator Lee Sung Jin said after the screening. “That impulsive anger is absurd and I think we’ve all been there. We’re so close to being set off at any moment.”
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The show takes off the masks and explores the latent insanity that lurks in all of us. In the process it creates an edge-of-the-seat rollercoaster you don’t want to miss.
"Beef" is released April 6 on Netflix.
Grade: A
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Ali Wong, Steven Yeun shine at SXSW premiere for Netflix's "Beef"
