Review Roundup: YELLOW ROSE, with Eva Noblezada and Lea Salonga

YELLOW ROSE is the timely story of a Filipina teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known.

The film stars Tony Award Nominee Eva Noblezada (Hadestown, Miss Saigon) in her feature film debut, Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga (Once on this Island, Miss Saigon), Princess Punzalan (Mula Sa Puso), Dale Watson (Friday Night Lights), Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood), and Liam Booth (Ghosts Never Sleep).

Directed by Diane Paragas, the film is written by Paragas, Annie Howell and Celena Cipriaso based on a story by Paragas and Andy Bienen. The film is produced by Paragas, Cecilia R. Mejia, Rey Cuerdo and Orian Williams. Executive Producers are Olivia De Jesus and Karen Elizaga.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Kristin Yoonsoo Kim, New York Times: The writer-director Diane Paragas spins a story that is both politically timely and personal. (Like Rose, she is a Texas-raised Filipino-American.) "Yellow Rose" is often affecting as its gifted heroine dreams while drifting between parental figures, including her aunt (Lea Salonga). Yet Paragas's use of the white savior cliché rings false, especially considering our current political climate. It feels far-fetched when an ICE agent lies on Rose's behalf, putting her dependency for survival in the agent's hands. Ultimately, it's frustrating to watch this dangerous shift play out when we know the real-world stakes.

Katie Walsh LA Times: "Yellow Rose" is a blunt instrument. It's not exactly subtle, but then again, the best country songs and the best coming-of-age tales rarely are. Noblezada plays to a full house at times, rather than to the camera, and the script leaves no stone unturned. But Noblezada's performance is incredibly captivating and invigorating. She plays Rose as coltish, feisty and a bit rough around the edges. But there's something undeniably special about this girl, her straightforward manner, her vulnerability in the way she shares her irrepressible, almost contagious passion for music. It's irresistible even to Watson, playing himself, who becomes her mentor and friend, offering Rose the resources to pursue her music and pushing her to perform onstage.

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: Without confronting the enormity of the national immigration crisis head-on, Paragas enlarges a glimpse of one fractured family's attempt to hang on to a tattered shred of the American Dream into a humanistic portrait of hope and perseverance. Rose, with her love of COUNTRY MUSIC that blends her Filipino heritage with American musical tradition, makes for a rather literal representation of assimilation, but one that's thankfully not overly familiar.

Lawrence Garcia, AV Club: Perhaps counterintuitively, Yellow Rose works better when it addresses its fraught subject matter more obliquely, focusing instead on Rose's resourceful, willful attempts to survive on her own. It's to the film's benefit that Paragas and her co-screenwriters refuse to sand down their protagonist's more exasperating qualities. Rose is justifiably confrontational with her estranged aunt Gail (legendary singer and actress Lea Salonga, in little more than a cameo), whom she discovers has been living in relative ease so close to her all along.

Beth Sullivan, Austin Chronicle: Yellow Rose's casting alone is memorable. Noblezada's resilient performance is a promising start to the film newcomer, who received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Kim in the 2014 revival of Miss Saigon. Salonga (who coincidentally originated the part of Kim in the original West End production of Miss Saigon) is fleeting but memorable. Honky-tonk legend Dale Watson (as himself) is pitch-perfect as the gravelly voiced country outlaw coaxing Rose to pursue her music aspirations, and Friday Night Lights' Villari exudes comfort like an iced sweet tea on a blazing Texas afternoon in her portrayal of Broken Spoke owner Jolene.

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