Pop star Richie Jen (任賢齊) makes his foray into feature filmmaking with All You Need is Love (落跑吧愛情). Sadly, the romantic comedy that Jen co-directs and stars in, is a total clunker.
The story, set against the picturesque backdrop of Penghu and starring Taiwanese diva Shu Qi (舒淇), is pretty to look at. But this isn’t enough to save the film from being an empty melange of hackneyed cliches and pedestrian plots.
Jen plays the poor local boy, Wu, running a bed and breakfast in Penghu. Shu is the rich Chinese girl, Yeh Fenfen, who comes from China’s Shanxi Province to see the islet that her deceased parents always wanted to visit but never got the chance. The two get off on the wrong foot when they first meet, but gradually they overcome their differences and fall in love.
Photo courtesy of Hualien Media
Meanwhile, external conflicts put their new love on trial. One takes up the form of Fenfen’s wealthy uncle, who tries to tear the lovebirds apart by forcing Fenfen to marry her rich, handsome fiance who speaks in an American accent.
All You Need is Love tells a formulaic story, with a bunch of favorite movie sidekicks, such as Jiu Kong (九孔) and Ma Nien-hsien (馬念先), thrown in. It has everything that a Taiwan-China co-production is expected to have these days: big-name Taiwanese stars who can sell tickets in China and beautiful shots of Taiwanese scenery to promote tourism.
Penghu looks as spectacular as ever, and Jen and Shu look cute together. But one cannot shake off the feeling that the filmmakers were either too lazy or simply lacked the ability to make the overworked genre interesting.
The verdict? Even if you are home alone and bored on a Monday night, and All You Need is Love is the only thing on TV, turn it off and go find something else to do.
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