Pushing Hands is Ang Lee's beautiful film about an elderly Chinese man transplanted into his son's American home. While most films about this subject, which for some reason critics like to call "East meets West", hyperbolize the struggles that immigrant Chinese must face, Pushing Hands tends to focus on minutia instead. For example, the elderly grandfather does not know that tin foil cannot be put into the microwave, which leads to a scolding by his caucasian daughter-in-law. All the conflict in the film is grounded in the real world, as opposed to some very abstract 'generational conflict'. Because of this I found this film to be much more rewarding than most other films about Asian-Americans. A must-see for Chinese-Americans and Caucasians alike. Personally, I'd like to watch it with my Chinese grandparents.

Listen for James Schamus's cameo as the voice on the answering machine at the beginning of the film.

The adage of "Great things come in small packages" aptly applies to PUSHING HANDS/TUI SHOU. The film deftly tells its story with charm, humor and grace. A son's elderly father is the newest part of the family, and troubles therein lie. Essentially, it's a story of one family, yet could easily fit into many households. So many topics are breached, under the gentle, loving eye of the director (Ang Lee). The leads, the venerable Sihung Lung, Deb Snyder and Bo Z. Wang, do a credible job bringing this story to life. Recommended.

Rarely have I seen the highest level of martial arts, internal kung-fu, portrayed in it's proper perspective. It is hard these days for people to realize that 'soft' style kung-fu will enable an old man to defeat many young men without much effort. With all the silly 'wire-fu' out there in the movies most people have no idea that there is a subtle way to defeat strength through 'chi energy' power lines.

There is no question that Ang Lee has the ability to put kung-fu back at the top of the martial art world. Through his well thought out story line and his perfect blend of drama and comedy he has taken a deep look at the struggle that exists today for thousands of people as they care for their elderly parents. This is truly a movie that can bond many generations.