The tagline is “this is not chicken soup for the soul.” Oh, yup, that’s for sure.

Characters:

• Ni Ni as Cheng Yu Meng/Cheng Tian Shuang
• Jing Bo Ran as Wang Chan
• Liu Ya Qing as Li Re Xue/Li Mei Ling

Details:

• Chinese/Mainland
• Release date: December 31, 2013
• Running time:  107 minutes
• Language: Mandarin

Quick Rundown:

Cheng Yu Meng is forced to go to Nepal after her work related Tuscany trip falls through. She meets rich heir, Wang Chan on the journey and they escape the tour group to have their own adventure. On the way, they save some tourists and hit some bumps. So will they become … long lasting friends? Or forever enemies?

ESTELLE’S TAKE

To be quite honest, I’m not too sure what this film is about. I mean I get that it’s one of those “discover yourself” kind of flick, but man was it lacking in almost everything! There was barely a plot to keep the story together and the entire cast didn’t feel like they understood much either. Here, let me break it down for you:

• The characters learnt nothing about themselves. Chen Yu Meng and Wang Chan have this huge argument at the climax (I’m guessing that’s what that was) that felt like it should be a teaching or enlightening moment for both of them, but pretty much nothing results from that. Yu Meng continues to be a self pitying sack of unhappiness and Wang Chan goes on his journey of being the spoiled brat with too much money to burn.
• It tried being quirky with this save all the tourist subplot in there, but it made no real sense at all. I didn’t understand why it was included or what it was supposed to tell me about the characters.
• Yu Meng and Wang Chan had some “let’s-become-lovers-in-a-foreign-land” moments, but then they were gone just like that. There was a spark of chemistry but the script/story just squashed it like a bug.
• None of the other characters contributed to the plot at all. I’m still scratching my head over why we learnt about Li Re Xue’s backstory. It’s like everything was supposed to mean something, but the screenwriter decided to call it quits and someone else had to write the rest.

I didn’t go into it with much expectations, but I definitely thought it would be a little more coherent. The acting was also just mediocre so there’s not even that to look forward to. I couldn’t save myself, but you still have a shot at this. Skip it, for sure.

This & That:

• Ni Ni shot to fame as the main character in Zhang Yi Mo’s Flowers of War opposite Christian Bale. She also played Fang Hui in recent movie remake of TV series Cong Cong Na Nian.
• Jing Bo Ran was the remake of Korean time travel piece, Love Through a Millennium. He also played an abducted son looking for his father in 2015 film Lost and Love with Andy Lau.
• Liu Ya Qing was in BOTH Cong Cong Na Nian and Lost and Love (is this why she was in this film?). She also played a supporting role in Vicki Zhao’s directing debut, So Young.