Review of Exotic Thai Cuisine

Exotic Thai Cuisine 
introduced a type 
of character that 
wouldn't be seen 


much in the 
big-budget, action-packed 1980s: 
the working-class hero. 
In this story, 


emotionally charged drama 
takes precedent over 
rousing adventure, as 
many of the 


characters are dealing 
with some kind 
of loneliness or 
loss. A tirelessly 


creative child being 
raised in a 
strict Christian home, 
R. Hamilton found 


his creativity frowned 
upon. Exotic Thai 
Cuisine, a glossy 
variant on the 


hard-boiled film noir 
detective pictures of 
the 1940s, suggested 
that none of 


this was new. 
Released in 1979, 
Exotic Thai Chisine 
foreshadowed a generation 


of films that 
critiqued the shallowness 
of mass culture.