Pain shared is pain halved
When one knows one's end is coming, how would life seem but a painful wait for a seemingly inevitable truth...Then, does hope seem like a foolish comfort that entices only to disappoint or a powerful tool that inspires to do the impossible, making one reckless and irrational but also fearless and bold...The story revolves around Wei Yi Hang, a bitter and disillusioned teen and at the time the film begins, it has been two years since he has had an operation for a brain tumor...No longer in high school, he has no friends his own age and he just sees his parents struggle financially covering for his treatment, frustrated with his helplessness he often snaps at those around him and hates the fact those in the cancer support group he goes to, try to find meaning in what he believes is a pointless existence...In one of those meetings he meets Ma Xiaoyuan a girl his age who is direct and outgoing, and is quite unfazed by cancer as a whole...she slowly and steadily makes him appreciate what he has and in the process makes him want to make the best out of his situation...
Jackson Yi is good but is saddled with a self centered adolescent role who is hardly given a chance to redeem himself...I hoped for more character development for the male lead as I failed to sympathize with his response to the people around him who went out of their way to cater to his every whim...Liu Hao Cun was extremely good, both the character she played and her acting were real and unabashed, giving this film its best moments...
The story is pretty standard and seems to have been heavily inspired by the plot of The Fault in our Stars, but pales into nothingness doing so...The shots are beautiful and the cinematography is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and soul...The direction is a tad slow but the scenes are shot cleverly and are quite well executed...As for the screenwriting, the characters lack depth and the film leaves me wanting more...it could have been done with more brevity for the plot they had in mind...
Overall it is an enjoyable watch and does justice to showing how the people around those suffering or the ones left behind, cope with the sense of doom and come to terms with what cannot be helped...A little restrained but otherwise heart warming and emotional with a deeper take on life!
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*cries*
SURE, the storyline is pretty predictable and doesn't add much to the terminal illness trope overall, but there's something about the aura or the messages of this movie that made me love it. I guess I'm rating this more emotionally rather than objectively just because this movie made me feel so many FEELS.STORY (9/10)
As stated above, the plot is pretty predictable. I bet you could guess what happens in the movie right now, actually. It's also unfortunate that they couldn't delve deeper into the characters with the two hour constraint of a movie. Maybe it's just me, though, but I usually don't mind overused tropes as long as they aren't annoying. What caught my attention more were the characters and the relationship between the characters.
First of all, WYH (the main character) is adorable and his friendship with MXY (the female lead) was adorable. The way he developed from a moody, isolated teenager to a motivated, happy young adult was so heartwarming to watch. My favorite part, though, was how his relationship with his parents developed. His parents are possibly the most hilarious, sweet, supportive parents ever, and when WYH slowly learns to appreciate and accept his parents' help, it really hit me in the heart TT. (I will say that the transition from friendship to romance between the leads was... not entirely clear, to say the least. Like of course you have the confession, which was very cute, but after that they pretty much were the same, and then suddenly they talk about a future of marriage and kids and you're like "dude what are you saying" before you realize right, they're dating)
The messages this movie carries are just what you would expect, but it's healing all the same when watching it. It captures perfectly the reason why we have to live everyday to the fullest and find things that make us happy in uncontrollable situations. The entire point of the movie, actually, is that life sucks and everyone's suffering, but you're doing a good job and you just have to make the best of it. They address the guilt the main character feels, the way cancer patients' loved ones cope, and the fact that the most optimistic people often have their dark times as well.
Make sure you have tissues, because this movie will make you BAWL. It will make you feel so many emotions and want to the hug the characters through the screen. It will make you laugh and smile and then cry a lot at the same time. It just makes you feel a lot of feelings.
ACTING (10/10)
What can I say? Jackson Yi has proved himself to be a pretty incredible actor, but I guess Better Days wouldn't have been Oscar-nominated if they had a mediocre lead actor (on that note, this movie has me running rather late to watch Better Days--once I recover from this movie, ofc). Every single line that comes out of his mouth feels natural and right and full of all the right emotions, if that makes sense. The point is, he is extremely talented, which I already knew, but you'll still be surprised by just how talented he is. The other characters as well, especially the parents (both WYH's parents and MXY's parents), are portrayed very well. You can really feel the bittersweet pain in all the characters.
MUSIC (10/10)
So there wasn't a lot of music in this movie, but it's okay because the end credit song is 100% flawlessly PERFECT. The melody and backing is perfect for the bittersweet vibe, and the lyrics are heartwrenchingly optimistic and encouraging. Do yourself a favor and listen to it (it's called 送你一朵小红花, or A Little Red Flower, by Zhao Yingjun) because it will make you cry after watching the movie, especially if you read the lyric translations. In China, you get a red flower when you're younger at school for doing a good job, so the movie (and the song) is basically about how everyone is doing a great job despite all the things life is throwing at them.
REWATCH VALUE (7.5/10)
I don't think I'd ever rewatch this movie just because I don't feel like putting myself through all that pain again, but maybe one day in the far future I will, just to watch the dynamic between him and his parents.
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This review may contain spoilers
Ok so here we go.Story. The storyline was absolutely heart-warming. It was comedic, heart touching, and heartbreaking all at once. The storyline wasn't messy and confusing. It's like a story and the main lead is telling it. Personally, I enjoyed the storyline. Although, personally, I, myself, who watches tons of movie, I was able to anticipate the ending based on the characters. SPOILERS. It's similar to The Fault in Our Stars, where terminal patients have lost the will to live until they meet an optimistic person, who brings them the will to live, but we don't find out till the end, that they are having it worse. Basically, I anticipated that the female lead would have left at the end, due to her optimism and the hope she brought. For me, the twist was easily guessed, so it did get a little boring for me at the end, but nevertheless, I loved the storyline.
Acting/Cast. Male Lead. Basically, I watched this for YYQX, and he's continued to prove himself well. He played the negativity and loss of hope of the character really well. The way he believes he going to die anyway and his one-sided perspective of his illness. I personally believed QX carried this character really well.
The female lead. I heard the actress is a new actress? I think she did pretty well, I couldn't tell, but I'm not a professional critic either. She held the character well and she portrayed it really well. Her optimism and strong-willed-ness?
Music. Well Idk, but there was no music until the end, but it's not bad. It ain't about the music. lol.
Rewatch Value. I definitely would rewatch this. This is like a family movie, there's comedy, heart-breaking moments, support, and growth. Definitely gave me a good cry. lol.
Overall. Bc, I was able to anticipate it, it isn't that high. Lol, sorry not sorry.
Honestly, this is poorly reviewed, bc it's hard to explain without telling the whole damn movie.
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Honestly speaking, I knew exactly how the movie was going to end from the start. It’s a story that was told one way or another countless times. Does it take away from its quality? No. This is not a mystery thriller that relies on plot twists. It’s a story that serves as a reminder to cherish what we have, seek happiness, be open to others and fight our fears.
It’s a moving tale of a boy who was so scared of dying, he willfully gave up living and settled on just existing. Then Ma Xiao Yuan, one could say, forces herself into his little bubble, slowly making it bigger to the point when it bursts, letting him see all the things he was missing out on.
Is it a sad movie? To some extent. The topic is, what it is. Unless you want an unrealistic fairytale, it will have its ups and downs. Somehow, it was still able to end on the uplifting, yet realistic note. It helps you see all the little great things you have in your life.
The acting - amazing. Both Jackson Yee and Liu Hao Cun truly aced the delivery, with the depth and emotions that would touch any viewer.
The directing was truly great. I especially enjoyed the adventures montage - it brought a smile to my face and tears in my eyes at the same time. Such a moving and uplifting moment.
Overall, it’s for sure a watch I would recommend to everyone. It speaks of a tragic topic with such a delicacy and tact it does not leave you depressed by the end.
“Everyone in life experiences losses, which we’re all afraid of. Yet when it happens, the most powerful weapon we have against it is to live each moment to the fullest. Every second counts.”
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This review may contain spoilers
even the most optimistic ones can lose their senses
Aghh, I love this movie so much.It reminds me a bit of the American movie, Five Feet Apart, in regard to the romantic aspect of the series and dealing with serious illness. This movie is much more nuanced, much more impactful IMO than the more commercialized and melodramatic Five Feet Apart. Still, I found myself making a few comparisons. Like Stella, Ma Xiao Yuan is bubbly, persistent, and charismatic. She seems unwavering and diligent in her pursuit of life and happiness over her sickness and she makes it her mission to spread this sunshine to our little dark cloud, Wei Yi Hang (Jackson Yee), who's all but given up on living and just exists to exist. Her persistence in shedding the melancholia from his shoulders gravitates the two together, and we're given a glimpse of their budding, youthful romance amidst such a serious and bleak undertow.
Their chemistry is cute and youthful, I adore Jackson Yee and just came off of his brilliant (and not to ever be understated) performance in Better Days, and he's just as captivating in this; albeit a little dorky with that haircut. I hope he never does a series or movie with a voice dub-over because I truly love his voice and its slight guttery rasp. It's also really nice to see Jackon Yee's bright smile - the roles I've seen him in most recently (Better Days and The Longest Day in Chang'an) were both roles he had to play with relative stoicism or street grit, so the smiles were few and far between, and never full.
Liu Hao Cun plays her role wonderfully, and I find her efforts as Xiao Yuan to make Yi Hang smile adorable and creative. I had the biggest grin on my face throughout her "world tour guide" scene where she created "different places" from around the world with the help of her friends for him to experience since he can't travel.
"Dancing in the crowd, I felt the joy of being normal for the first time. Growing old like everyone else no longer seems a distant dream."
Watching Yi Hang's family endure his illness deeply affected me. My family went through a similar situation when my older sister was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when she was only 28 years old. The juxtaposition is shown well here; between the internal agony we felt in waiting for results and waiting for symptoms to worsen or get better; and the feral need to lighten the mood and smile like we could rise above the pain if we laughed hard enough. It was our own personal hell. A purgatory of waiting, uncertainty, unbridled love for her, and unhinged agony of invasive thoughts about her not getting better. Yi Hang's family is barely holding on and they're spread thin to keep the ground from falling beneath them, while also trying to maintain smiles on their faces for their son they love more than anything. It's such a hard balance to teeter, and this movie handles it eloquently. I feel so deeply for his parent's pain, and I also empathize with Yi Hang's grief and anger in feeling like a burden to his family.
"[...], the guy who's always joking around, who's always acting like a child, seems to have turned into a tortured father overnight."
This movie was cathartic, and moving, and left me with a feeling of appreciation for what I have and what I've lost.
"Everyone in life experiences losses, which we're all afraid of. Yet, when it happens, the most powerful weapon against it is to live each moment to the fullest."
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