Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Ronny Chieng, Patch May, Shuang Hu, Molly Daniels
Intro:
"...a passionate, narcissistic, and angrily quizzical viewpoint on the world."
Ronny Chieng, known for his work in local stand up and on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in the United States, takes inspiration from his time at Uni to create the contemporary and funny collegiate comedy Ronny Chieng: International Student. The series follows the fictional Ronny and his friends, all but one of whom (Ronny’s Australian love interest Asher, played by Molly Daniels) are roommates in the International House, as they attend Law School in Australia.
Ronny Chieng: International Student lampoons students of all types and mocks the everyday quirks of a campus and its bureaucracy. For example, when Asher’s laptop gets a virus, it constantly repeats the phrase, “You have been impregnated by the sperm virus.” As Chieng runs across campus to fix Asher’s computer, he must deal with impossible administrative officials, unhelpful IT support, and a team of bullying computer nerds.
The development between characters is more present in the friendships that develop than between Ronny and Asher through their romantic storyline. Chieng spends much of the season in the “friend zone”; despite a few plot points revolving around Ronny trying to impress or help, these usually fall to the side as funnier and stronger moments arise.
This speaks to the strength of the ensemble, which bring it to virtually every scene. The entire supporting cast is funny and willing to take their performances to the next level, playing with stereotypes and then breaking them down. Even guest actors deliver exaggerated performances that make this collegiate world absurd, yet still grounded in reality.
In one particularly funny episode, Ronny joins an improv team to impress Asher. But, the main storyline of Ronny’s unrequited love ends up being a distraction to the insane performances from some of the actors (look out for a Shia LaBeouf impression) and the witty writing.
The ensemble has plenty of gifted comedians, including Hoa Xuande as Elvin and Patch May as Craig, two foils who produce some of the best scenes in the series when they are at odds and when they are working together.
If you are familiar with Ronny Chieng, he brings a similar comedic style to this show as he does The Daily Show, a passionate, narcissistic, and angrily quizzical viewpoint on the world. His voice is clear, but leveled out by the other characters with their own unique styles.
