A 1993 queer classic gets a breezy update

BRINGING CHILDREN INTO THE WORLD AND raising them is generally considered one of life's great joys.

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But for some hopeful parents-to-be, just “letting things happen” isn’t an option. Gay couples may choose to adopt, or figure out some kind of family arrangement outside the long-standing one-mommy, one-daddy equation. And same-sex couples often face fertility challenges, just as hetero couples do. Add the expectations of would-be grandparents into the mix, and it’s a wonder any child ever gets born at all.

The Wedding Banquet, Andrew Ahn’s updated rendering of Ang Lee’s 1993 comedy-drama of the same name, uses those complex dreams and dashed hopes as a starting point to talk about everything that unites rather than divides us in modern America, a place where being gay is wholly accepted, unless it isn’t, and all sorts of families are cherished, unless they aren’t. Toss in cultural differences, and disaster is sure to ensue.

But in its joyous way, this new Wedding Banquet reassures us that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. It’s a fun, openhearted picture, and even if it lacks the wistful subtlety of the original, it ends up on the same landing note: the people we love best are always worth fighting for.