Indie coming-of-age dramas are not exactly an endangered species, but Michael Kang's debut drama is an admirably intelligent and modest example of the genre. The film about of a teenage Chinese-American boy struggling with adolescent issues while working in his family's fleabag motel has the precise brevity of a well-crafted short story. The central character is 13-year-old Ernest (Jeffrey Chyau), a sensitive and chubby teen who spends his spare time cleaning the rooms at the motel run by his single mother (Jade Wu).

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