Take Out (2004) review

"Illegal immigrant" Ming Ding (Charles Jang), living in NYC after leaving his wife and child behind in China, owes a chunk of money to a loan shark, so he exhausts himself making deliveries for the Chinese take-out place and hopes he makes enough in tips ... but he's eventually robbed in an elevator by two scumbags with a gun.  As Baker's second feature film (co-directed with Tsou) it shows the extreme hardship of someone coming to America from a foreign country and not knowing the language (his empathy towards outcasts is virtually unmatched in modern cinema), except the presentation is rough: the camerawork is quite wobbly (he used the "beloved" Sony DSR-PD150!), there isn't a lot of dialogue and it becomes monotonous switching back and forth between Ming riding his bike through the rain and the sound of woks clanging and sizzling ... which is the majority of the movie.  It does act as a building block for Sean's later work - Anora is a significantly more refined "race against time" type of narrative - although it'll be a while before I develop a craving for wonton soup and chicken fried rice again.