Life imitates art in James Lew’s directorial debut, Hollywood’s go-to Asian heavy and stunt performer from countless American martial arts films. The film employs a ‘mockumentary’ style to tell the story of Buford Lee (James Lew), stunt double to the stars who is desperate to launch his own starring-role project and leap out from the shadows. When Buford is told he’s not a big enough name to attract the finance needed to produce his own film – which he calls 18 Fingers of Death! – he sells his prized possessions collected from years in the movie business to make the movie himself. Even when it is released, he is still snubbed by Hollywood’s big-shot producers. Much of the film’s biographical details are lifted from Lew’s own life – his obsession with Bruce Lee, his big break on the set of Kung Fu, his work on a 1970s Chinese film set – but it’s the more existential asides, cloaked in the guise of comedy, which resonate. As a double for “Steven Seeford”, he is never acknowledged or recognised personally for the work he does to make the star look good, while the actor is shown holding court, boasting about his fighting prowess while stuffing his face with Chinese take-out. At one point, Buford confesses to the film’s director that, being born and raised in south central Los Angeles, he speaks in a fake Chinese accent, asking, “can I still be a martial arts hero without a Chinese accent?” In one sequence – the best in the film – he has a heart-to-heart with his dad (played by Pat Morita in one of his final film roles) in which he is clouded by self-doubt. “What if I’m not badass enough?” he asks, to which his father implores him to never give up on his dream. For a low-budget indie with gags fuelled by stereotypes, kung fu movie cliches and farts, there is an interesting undercurrent of frustration and resentment at the heart of the film, targeted at an industry which has given so much to its writer-director, but afforded so little. Of course, in reality, James Lew really did struggle to get this film made, relying on cameos from his industry friends to get it off the ground: Don Wilson as a teacher of martial arts screen acting; Robin Shou as the kung fu star, “Jackie Chong”; Lorenzo Lamas doing a pretty offensive Antonio Banderas impression. In the end, Buford does get his happy ending – co-hosting a TV cooking show – but is this really the best he can hope for as an Asian American actor in Hollywood?