SYNOPSIS – Qin Fen, a funny, honest, single inventor, meets a girl, Smiley, who is in agony of her boyfriend’s betrayal. They travel to Hokkaido, in hopes of curing Smiley’s broken heart and find love and redemption.

SPECS:

RUNNING TIME – 2 hours, 10 minutes

LANGUAGE – Mandarin with English subtitles

RATING – PG

REVIEW:

This movie, filled with heart and humor, is quite refreshing. Usually, Asian films go heavy on the emotion, sacrificing the story for sappy dialogue and melodramatic plotlines. The dialogue in this romantic comedy was excellent – very well written – and although it’s a bit difficult following the subtitles and watching the character’s actions at the same time, you still get the gist of what’s going on. You Ge and Shu Qi share a nice back-and-forth chemistry. Ge’s deadpan and direct interrogation of his blind dates is a joy to watch, while Qi looses herself nicely in the role of the tormented lover. Chinese writer-director Feng Xiaogang, whose directed a wide range of genres, crafts a seamless story, bookended with a humorous opening and close.

RATINGS:

ACTING – A-
DIRECTION – A
PLOT & WRITING – B+
ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR – B
OVERALL – B+