Reviews

I guess the reason why this movie gets such a low rating is it is TOO unrealistic. Who would buy a one-way ticket with all his savings just to see a girl he has met twice and slept with once? Who would parachute himself into a luxury swimming pool to meet his darling girl? Who would convert a family-owned motel into a homeless people's shelter?

Scarcely no one would do those things in real life. But it is those tiny few people that do these things that makes people believe in fairy tales.

The overall storyline is trustworthy. It's basically about a girl who makes a living in a large company, large city, doing a job against her true calling, getting back with a rich guy with who she's to have a baby. Jennifer Aniston does a good job playing a seemingly hardhearted woman. She is rather 'tense' and harsh but towards the end of the movie it gets so hilarious that she writes a poem to the hero.

We do need realistic movie that reveals the severity of life. But when we get baffled, it's not bad that we watch a chicken soup that teaches us to follow the heart.

The story reminds me of 'Banquet' by Ang Lee, which is also about a Chinese father visiting his adult child in America. In that story made in the 1990s, the Taiwanese father finally found out that his son was a gay, while in this film, the father found the affair of his daughter. Both stories display the conflicts between two generations, or to be more specific, the Western and Eastern culture and ethics.

This film by Wanye Wang, however, was even more restrained, with only two main characters but not many dialogues between them. I have just started to read the original story by Yiyun Li and am pleased that the film perfectly inherits the plain and succinct style of the novel. Much background information (how the mother died, why the father and daughter did not meet for 12 years, etc.) was concealed and only revealed bit by bit through dialogues.

A worthwhile movie if you want to learn about a typical Chinese parent: he does not say "I love you" but he can find the nearest Asian supermarket and cooks 4 dishes for a meal (usually too much for two people); he does not clarifies misunderstandings but only reveals the truth when he is too much wronged; he is so lonely that he talks about his child to any seemingly friendly elderly people he can find in a park; he calls the child when he/she is not back after 10 pm and waits in the kid's room.

The poster made me think it was a more profound story, but after watching it I found it humorous and a bit hilarious.

Maggie Chueng makes the character quite dimensional. The abruptness in offering to sleep together on the first night she meets Mike, the eagerness she puts on makeup before planning to run into Mike, the surprise and curb of tears when hearing Mike say 'I love you', the cannot-stop crying after she finds out Mike's affair. The only problem, however, is that she is way too beautiful for this character. Played by Maggie, Ellen is definitely not an ordinary taxi driver - single mom. She is laid-back. She falls in love. She, is a human being and a perfect match for the handsome, intelligent and bad-tempered Mike.

The story is also worth watching: normal and real enough for you to relate to but also a bit dreamy with the introduction of a golden bachelor. A man and woman fall in love after ONS (actually 2 times) . It takes time for them to realize that and to learn to take it seriously. Then the perfection is broken by crisis in the guy's business and loyalty. Finally the two are reconciled, for sure. The most dramatic scene for me, is the elegant Ellen driving her cab and park at the mansion of Mike. If it isn't true love, I cannot see it anywhere else.

Two month ago, an American broke up with me, after two weeks' dating. I am a Chinese, btw, living in my own country. The excuse he gave me was we had no connection. I have to thank to this film for helping me out of my confusions.

Josh, the leading role in this film, is an American who has been living in Hong Kong for ten years. He has been in a two-year relationship with a Chinese girl who got her university degree in America. However, the moment he talks to Ruby, an American who he has met twice and who is to stay in Hong Kong for a year, he knows what real "connection" is. They are raised up in similar language and culture background. They watched the same cartoons as kids and they enjoy jokes and puns that people brought up in another world cannot understand.

I see comments like "these two people are just talking very shallow topics" thus they are not really liking each other but just flirting. I agree that the two characters do not really have mutual understanding in anything profound like world outlook or share a similar taste in arts and literature. But so what? In a foreign place, the two are the best they can find for each other.