Ang Lee's debut feature exhibits many of the traits that would later become calling cards: the clash of cultures at play in everyday American society; the stifling-yet-comforting influence of family and home; the reticence to alter old world ways even in a new environment. Unfortunately, Lee -- working here on an ultra-low budget with an inexperienced cast -- hadn't yet come into his own as a naturalistic observer of human drama, and as a result, much of Pushing Hands comes off like a preachy after-school special. Best among the cast is Sihung Lung, whom Lee would feature in nearly all of his subsequent films; he's so good that he makes the performers who play his staid suburban son and daughter-in-law (Bo Z. Wang and Deb Snyder, respectively) seem like they wandered in from a cut-rate public access soap opera. Informally part of Lee's "Father Knows Best" trilogy, Pushing Hands received a release only after the success of The Wedding Banquet.