I AM NEITHER a connoisseur nor a collector of cats, yet I cannot help but point out the splendid acting of Jasmine, a feline in Catfish in Black Bean Sauce, whose stellar performance is indicative of the host of other fine performances in this film. The cat has a minor role, really, but it is exactly this sort of insignificance that warrants a closer examination.

The film begins with a cozy conversation between Dwayne (Chi Muoi Lo, the director), born in Vietnam, and his African American adoptive parents (Mary Alice and Paul Winfield) regarding their unfortunate ownership of the sneeze-inducing Jasmine (played, the credits tell us, by Bandit). Dwayne recalls an incident when he tossed Jasmine and she landed on the floor like a blob of Jell-O (well, she's blind, we find out). Remarkably enough, when the camera sweeps down on her she is plopped on the floor with her sides bulging out just like a bulbous chunk of Jell-O, and with an ingeniously acted brainless expression on her whiskered face to match. With celerity, the scene shifts to out-of-doors, and we see her from the viewpoint of a beetle as Jasmine gives a silent soliloquy on the majesty of a cat's existence on earth. And to his credit, Chi Muoi Lo grants all of his characters in this film the dynamism he has given Jasmine.

Mind you we have only inspected the front door of this movie so far, but I believe that it is the attention given to small details on which the production hinges. We have two mothers, one adoptive and one biological; two adopted Vietnamese children, one seeking her traditional roots and the other embracing his African American upbringing (his vocabulary consists entirely of hiphop slang); and a young Caucasian man who insists he is not gay, though his true love is a Chinese transvestite. Put them all in a room together, and what can you expect but a hilarious fist fight?

Put them all in a Chi Muoi Lo movie, and what you will see is a quizzical and humorous expression on the face of identity as it looks at its own reflection in the mirror. This film, while not the advent of a cinematographic messiah, induces fits of laughter, trickling tears, and a luxurious purr or two. And though I found myself once again in the contemptuous land of happy endings, I felt inclined to overlook such an irresistible flaw and enjoy the sensation of being there.