1
6
mango sorbet
procrastinating~
*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.
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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