Coming-of-age comedies are a dime a dozen, but Michael Kang's The Motel is specific and detailed enough to separate itself from the pack. In its depiction of a timid pubescent misfit, the film has been compared to Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse, but while Kang's film is sometimes painfully honest and discomfiting in its humor, there's an underlying humanity to the film that Dollhouse lacks. Scenes like the one where Ernest (Jeffrey Chyau) is forced to kiss the local bully's younger sister are hilarious in their awkwardness, without ever devolving to genuine cruelty. Characters that initially seem like caricatures, like Sam Kim (Sung Kang), the Korean hipster Lothario, and Ernest's penny-pinching, no-nonsense mother (played by Jade Wu) eventually reveal hidden depths, while young Ernest's relationships with them and with Christine (Samantha Futerman), the slightly older girl he pines for, develop in an unexpected, but completely believable way. Tremendous credit is due, not just to the strong cast, but to Kang's wonderfully nuanced, mature, and witty script. It's always refreshing to see a filmmaker tackle the traumatic nature of adolescence in such a serious, respectful, and empathic manner, and Kang's take also allows for belly laughs that arise organically from the material. A disciplined young filmmaker, he never lets his talent for comedy overwhelm the essential emotional integrity of his story.