Spoiler Alert: ‘Starring Jerry As Himself’ Is a ‘Docu-Fiction Hybrid,’ the Meaning of Which Becomes Clear While Watching

While Law Chen’s “Starring Jerry As Himself,” opening at Manhattan’s IFC Center on Wednesday, may feel like a documentary, it really isn’t. Pegging it as a “docu-fiction hybrid,” as Mr. Chen does in the accompanying press notes, makes the film sound like a postmodernist lark or a reality show mish-mosh. What the picture might be is difficult to discuss because its efficacy as entertainment depends on misleading the audience. Sometimes, spoilers spoil everything.But, then, “misleading” may be too conspiratorial a word for what is, in the end, a film of bittersweet proportions. Mr. Chen employs home movies — not their simulacrum, but the real things — to introduce us to the main players of “Starring Jerry As Himself,” not least our protagonist, Jerry Chu. He’s 60-something, somewhat bedraggled, and has somehow managed to maintain an elfin innocence about the doings of men. Mr. Chu left Taiwan in the 1970s and came to America with two suitcases in tow, hoping to realize his dream of becoming an actor and screenwriter. Dreams being what they often are, he settled for a job as a civil engineer, proceeding to scrimp, save, and retire in modest comfort at Orlando. Mr. Chu’s ex-wife, Kathy, is more extravagant in demeanor and lifestyle, living large in a sparkling white mansion and actively pursuing ballroom dancing. Their three sons — Jonathan, Joshua, and Jesse — work a variety of gigs and get along pretty well. But they do worry about dad.Via Greenwich EntertainmentWhen Jerry invites Kathy and the kids to a favorite haunt for dinner, Jon, Joshua, and Jesse are very worried. After an initial spate of kibitzing typical of serious family discussions, the boys ask Jerry to explain the rationale for this meeting. Whereupon paterfamilias Chu regales them with a tale of high-stakes espionage.Jerry, you see, was recently drafted by the Chinese government to help quash an international money-laundering scheme. Among the crime cartel’s specialties is identity theft, and “Jerry Chu” has been used in its dealings. State agents in China hint that Jerry may face extradition charges should he prove recalcitrant in helping them. How could a dutiful citizen not clear his good name? Mr. Chen, working alongside cinematographer Tinx Chan, maintains a grainy verisimilitude throughout the span of “Starring Jerry As Himself.” Soon enough, we realize that there’s something fishy afoot in terms of narrative, particularly when events begin occurring on the Chinese mainland. At about the midpoint of the picture, any pretense of documentary integrity is upended in favor of symbolic reveries and, ultimately, an altogether different species of truth-telling. Saying anything more will upset the twists, turns, and feints that are the raison d’etre of this oddball artifact. Suffice it to say, rarely have we seen a secret agent as hangdog and endearing as Jerry Chu. “Starring Jerry As Himself” is humble in its intentions and gratifying in its follow-through.

Spoiler Alert: ‘Starring Jerry As Himself’ Is a ‘Docu-Fiction Hybrid,’ the Meaning of Which Becomes Clear While Watching

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