The Wedding Banquet (1993)

Sometimes the simplest of plots are the best, and that's certainly the case for "The Wedding Banquet." Directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee, the film, set in Manhattan, follows the story of a gay man (Winston Chao) who, to hide his sexuality from his parents, decides to marry a female friend out of convenience. Things get a bit complicated, however, when his parents insist on traveling overseas to New York to "help" plan what they want to be a huge wedding. The relationships between the gay couple, the family and the woman, though independent, naturally become intertwined, and what results is a tremendously funny and bittersweet romantic comedy. Lee, who also directed "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman," saw his effort rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. This gets a big thumbs-up on the Date Film scale.

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