You can’t escape it — almost every mainstream Taiwanese movie has to come with the trademark characteristics of cuteness, sappiness and over-the-top absurdity. Those ingredients are clearly present in Ace of Sales, complete with the ubiquitous flamboyant gangster (Jack Na, 那維勳) who inexplicably finishes his sentences in poor English — but somehow it is bearable here; perhaps even endearing ... nah, we won’t go that far.
But perhaps because Ace of Sales is a heartwarming comedy not about the fire of youth (it features live, working, married adults), the screenwriters could not simply run amok with gimmicks presumably targeted toward the 15-and-under crowd. There has to be some substance in a film dealing with life in the workplace, and while the result is nothing groundbreaking, it makes a “well-balanced” mainstream film — in that it provides as many chuckles as cliches and as many heartfelt smiles as cringes. But most of all, the subject material is fresh — it actually takes the viewer through a maybe exaggerated but still interesting look into the world of the television shopping industry.
We’ve all seen on television the weirdly enthusiastic people selling once-in-a-lifetime-deal jewelry, invisible bras and magical sports equipment that can give you a flat belly. This film delves into the heart of it as protagonist Sue (Bianca Bai, 白歆惠) loses her job as a marketing and communications specialist and ends up working as a salesperson at Carrefour. Shy and awkward in the beginning, Sue learns how to make people buy things through a series of bizarre events and eventually becomes the alpha on a television shopping channel.
Photo courtesy of Hualien Media
Bai does a pretty nuanced job with her role, especially playing the awkwardness and introversion well, and you can still see traces of it even as she transitions into success. She enters a rivalry with Mei-hsiu (林美秀, Lin Mei-hsiu), who, despite being older, unattractive and loudmouthed, is also a wildly successful salesperson in her own right. Although their interaction is pretty formulaic as far as workplace battles go, Mei-hsiu provides a contrasting counterpart to Sue that does result in some laughs.
The plot itself flows well, with enough ups and downs and tension to keep the viewer engaged throughout the 129 minutes of running time — but the relationship development between the characters is pretty weak. For example, while Sue’s ridiculously sweet yet timid husband Kai (Nadow, 納豆) plays an important part in the first part of the film, there is almost no interaction to show between the two for a long stretch as their relationship supposedly deteriorates. Other characters go through abrupt attitude or personality changes that are crucial for the story but are simply hard to believe. Even the way Sue finds her final catharsis feels forced and unnatural. And the side love story between Jack, the gangster, and the person who turns out to be the villain resolved and explained in a disappointingly lazy fashion
Using a niche industry as a main theme is a good idea for a movie, but it seems that the production team put too much effort into stuffing too much into a film in an attempt to make it appealing on all fronts. That is the pitfall of trying to please all audiences — you often end up with a slickly-produced film that really is not bad — and while it is indeed enjoyable to watch, you can’t help but walk out thinking that it could have been much better.
Photo courtesy of Hualien Media
Photo courtesy of Hualien Media
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