compelling or interesting person" especially next to "Chau's character, who is a pragmatic spitfire" and Waltz's character. Emily Yoshida, writing for New York magazine's blog Vulture, said: Among the negative reviews, RogerEbert.com's Sheila O'Malley found there to be "a lot of problems" with the story and said, "Because Ngoc Lan is such a strong character, and Chau is so funny and strident and bossy, she takes over the entire film." O'Malley found most side characters, including Ngoc Lan, to be characters "more interesting and fleshed-out" than Damon's main character. Portrayal of Asian role Following early screenings, several critics and audience members criticized the character Ngoc Lan Tran as an Asian caricature, with the role involving a heavy Vietnamese accent and dialogue in broken English, a reaction that director Alexander Payne and distributor Paramount Pictures did not anticipate since it did not surface during preview screenings. The Guardian said the character's accent and dialogue were "milked repeatedly for laughs", and ScreenCrush called the role an "icky, racist caricature". The Independent reported, "Some critics... have focused on her accent, claiming her broken English is nothing short of mockery." The Los Angeles Times said, "The character has also faced scrutiny from critics over the heavily accented broken English she speaks in a cadence that some say veers into stereotype before the script—and Chau's layered, dimensional performance—makes her a hero." Throughout 2017, Chau was asked repeatedly about the criticism. A website reported that she was "steadfastly defending the character from what she felt was misplaced criticism regarding the tastefulness of her portrayal". She called the questions about her character's accent "dehumanizing" and said, "When I look at my parents I don't see a stereotype." She described her character as "so multifaceted and complex and well-written" and said the criticism was solely based on her character's accent. She later added, "I didn't want the accent to be the thing people take away most from this movie. I wanted them to really see this woman. I wanted them to feel her heartbeat." The New York Times said many reviewers agreed with her perspective and that the plaudits found her performance likely to result in an Academy Award nomination. In January 2018, Chau said, In 2022, Chau said about the complaints that she knew what a Vietnamese accent sounds like, "Sometimes people have a little bit more trouble with stories that are integrated. It's a lot easier