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The Search for General Tso

The Search for General Tso

2014
Comedy, Documentary
1h 11m
Who was General Tso, and why are we eating his chicken? This feature documentary explores the origins and ubiquity of Chinese-American food through the story of an iconic sweet and spicy chicken dish. (imdb)
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The Search for General Tso

2014
Comedy, Documentary
1h 11m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 50.59% from 72 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(72)
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Rated 26 Dec 2014
60
54th
The most appetizing movie I've ever seen. The questions presented in the synopsis are only a stepping stone for a documentary that also discusses the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States, how Chinese cuisine became popular in that country (the answer is rather dark), and perceptions of culinary authenticity versus fusion cuisine as a matter of culture politics. I'd say the film balances funny and serious in the way a good General Tso's Chicken combines sweet and spicy.
Rated 02 Dec 2016
58
54th
I found this documentary much more interesting than it has any right to be (who really cares about why one type of food is named as it is, right?). Now I ended up with more useless trivia in my brain.
Rated 02 Aug 2015
80
77th
*Gurgle*
Rated 29 Jul 2015
65
37th
I usually love these kinds of documentaries, but this one was just OK. Every time it seemed ready to explore something really interesting it would switch over to something else. It wasn't informative enough to be educational (like Helvetica), it wasn't quirky enough to be endearing (like King of Kong), and it wasn't focused enough to be interesting (like Jiro Dreams of Sushi). Maybe I went into it expecting too much because I love Chinese food. It's still worth watching on Netflix.
Rated 21 Aug 2016
70
50th
A light, breezy watch that I enjoyed, but raised more interesting questions about Chinese diaspora in America than it attempted to address. I find it amazing that the Chinese represent about 1% of our population yet their cuisine serves as a sort of cultural (and somewhat judgmental) touchstone. The film touched on this but I wish it explored this further. I did appreciate the historical backdrop.
Rated 10 Jul 2015
80
49th
Achieved its objective (i.e. made me crave the HELL outta some General Tso). Gimme, gimme, gimme.
Rated 04 Sep 2016
80
49th
An interesting documentary that gave me more than I expected going in. I expected just the focus on the eponymous chicken dish but they go into a brief history of Chinese-American restaurants and cuisine, as well as the cuisine from the mainland China. I really wish I had some Chinese food while I was watching it, though, because this documentary will make you hungry.

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