Bustling at a colourful intersection of music, household, and identification, Anderson .Paak’s filmmaking debut “Okay-Pops!” is an immediately likable affair. You don’t actually need to know something about Korean well-liked music (or Okay-pop) to understand this jubilant gem’s celebration of generational ties and upbeat rhythms. Additionally the star of the movie, Grammy-winning musician .Paak and his solid are so effortlessly magnetic that they are going to have you ever gently tapping your foot and rooting for his or her on-screen quests earlier than you understand it.
Co-leading the movie’s charming ensemble is .Paak’s personal son, Soul Rasheed, in a narrative — written by .Paak with co-writer Khaila Amazan — loosely impressed by their real-life father-son relationship. .Paak is on the document about his expertise in the course of the quarantine days of the pandemic, a interval that strengthened and deepened his reference to Soul. Understanding this solely additional sweetens the frothy flavors of “Okay-Pops!” —wasn’t it in the course of the lockdown that each one of us lucky sufficient to outlive the illness rewired our priorities, leaned into what we liked essentially the most, and discovered much more about ourselves in addition to these closest to us?
You possibly can really feel that affectionate vitality all through “Okay-Pops!” that follows BJ (.Paak), a gifted however struggling Los Angeles musician ready for his massive break. One evening, he meets the nonchalantly cool Yeji (Jee Younger Han), who appears to be over the relationship scene in L.A., crammed with unfit suitors she calls “emotionally unstable man-babies with dedication points.” The attraction is immediate between the 2: A meet-cute, promptly adopted by a public make-out session over dinner. However the devoted relationship they launch into finally involves an finish, when their expectations not align and intimacy evolves into resentment. (Has BJ additionally grow to be a kind of man-babies Yeji appears to detest? Probably.)
Quick-forward to 12 years later, after a vividly animated phase that summarizes a few of this backstory, and the movie begins in earnest, with BJ losing his days away on the identical bar that after launched her to Yeji. He’s broke, aimless, and in dire want of a gig, any gig, that might get him again on monitor. Because of his buddy Money (Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park) pulling some strings, he finds himself on his option to Seoul, because the drummer of a fictional “American Idol”-style Okay-pop expertise present referred to as “Wildcard.”
The gig nearly appears too good to be true, however that’s not even essentially the most implausible a part of “Okay-Pops!,” contemplating the contrivance that follows. Settled in South Korea after her tough breakup, it seems that Yeji has stored her being pregnant a secret and given start to BJ’s now-tween-aged son. He’s Tae (Rasheed), one of many contestants on “Wilcard.” The clueless celebrity wannabe first tries to get in good graces with presumed contest frontrunner Kang (Kevin Woo). However BJ’s allegiances rapidly shift as soon as he discovers Tae’s identification, and consequently, the rewards of fatherhood.
A lot of what takes place in “Okay-Pops!” appears completely unbelievable, and the movie sometimes lags and drags with distracting animated segments and superfluous tangents. However the characters rise to the event with such verve that you would be able to’t assist however purchase the primary beats of the story—a recent fairy story with the lightest of touches, sometimes splitting the distinction between a modern-day rom-com and a distant “Unhealthy Information Bears” riff. (Within the competitors, Tae belongs to a gaggle of misfits, you see.) Elsewhere, as BJ and his son begin to get to know each other, the story adoringly embraces the main points of each Korean and Black cultures with spirit and insightful precision — an unsurprising attribute, given .Paak’s personal heritage on the intersection of those cultures.
There may be loads of music, delicious meals montages and heartwarming father-son bonding to go round, with BJ and Tae generously exchanging what they know finest with one another. As an illustration, Tae helps his dad with the intricacies of Okay-pop, Korean tradition, and language. In return, BJ introduces Tae to the nuances of Black tradition. In one of many movie’s most blissful scenes, BJ immediately connects with two Black girls even if they’re full strangers, and he does so via nothing however a shared cultural language in entrance of an in-awe Tae. Memorable moments like this abound in “Okay-Pops!” and really feel just like the cinematic equal of immediately hummable melodies.
Fortunately, the script doesn’t abandon the romance that began all of it both, tying up the story of Yeji and BJ in an earned conclusion that can fulfill all of the hopeless romantics. With some really gorgeous cameos (together with one by Earth, Wind & Hearth), a keeper of a soundtrack throughout well-choreographed dance strikes and a pleasant perspective, “Okay-Pops!” lovingly spreads some uncynical enjoyable and happiness to the world — and proudly wears its particular perspective on its sleeve.
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