Mail Order Wife

Andrew is a documentary filmmaker following Adrian, a regular guy from Queens, New York, as he acquires a demure young lady bride named Lichi from Burma. Adrian is such a sad sack and Andrew's judgment is so questionable (he gives Adrian thousands of dollars to offset the expense of bringing Lichi to America) that if this were a real documentary you'd never forgive the film for being so, well, shady. But it's all fake: Andrew is co-writer and co-director (along with Huck Botko) Andrew Gurland, Adrian is actor Adrian Martinez, Lichi is actress Eugenia Yuan, and no real mail-order brides were hurt in the making of this film. Botko and Gurland's real target is not sad-sack schmoes who bring Asian girls over to clean the toilets, as well as perform other unsavory household chores, but rather documentary filmmakers who become overly involved with their subjects. You can't begin to imagine the outrageously twisted turns this hilarious black comedy takes, but suffice it to say that the motto of the agency Adrian uses to find Lichi—"Paradise Girls: The Women Men Deserve"—turns out to be accurate, albeit in unexpected ways. You end up almost feeling sorry for Adrian, who's more pathetic than anything else, but Andrew is a smug, superior son of a bitch, and witnessing his comeuppance is delicious…as well as highly amusing. Recommended. (M. Johanson)