Phans of Jersey City

Evoking the realist style and domestic drama of An American Family, the filmmakers formulated their narrative by living with the Phans in order to achieve a remarkably intimate and detailed portrait of a family, as well as a country, in transition. The film catches up with the Phans, who have settled into a suburban lifestyle but are still struggling with mediocre employment, racial discrimination, change within their family hierarchy, and simply coming to terms with the lives they left behind.

Driving flashy cars, dancing to disco, drinking beer, and watching TV are routine for the kids, but Colonel Phan spends his days wrapped in dreams of former glory. A former military court judge, combat officer, businessman, diplomat, and politician, this fading patriarch reveals his poignant angst as he putters around the house, displays his medals, and demonstrates the foxtrot for the camera. He has stopped speaking to his oldest son who is dating a "low class" Ecuadorian woman, and his oldest daughter, who had owned her own business in South Vietnam, longs for more than the housekeeping and caregiving position that she inherited upon her arrival to the states.