Xin hua lu fang

I stumbled upon "Breakup Buddies" (aka "Xin hua lu fang") on the Asian movie section whilst browsing Netflix. I was not familiar with it, and after reading the synopsis I decided to watch the movie.

I had no idea what to expect here, so director Hao Ning had every opportunity to impress and entertain me here.

However, that was not to be. This turned out to be a very mediocre movie. First of all, the story was not all that captivating and just seemed that the topics in the movie were just shallowly perused. This was a shame, because there was so many ways the movie could have explored and ended up with a more entertaining final product.

The characters in the movie were one-dimensional, and could easily have been replaced by cardboard cut-outs. Yeah, there were very little to like or get attached to here. However, I must say that the performances of both Bo Huang (playing Geng Hao) and Zheng Xu (playing Hao Yi) were quite well, despite the fact that they had so little to work with.

The movie struggled to keep my interest many times, and I must admit that I ended up checking social media throughout the course of the movie. It was just such a bland and boring storyline that I gave up trying to get involved.

This is not a particularly outstanding movie in Chinese cinema, and I can't recommend that you actually take the time or effort to watch this. There are far better movies in the Chinese cinema that far outshines "Breakup Buddies".

I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the trailer looked original and I wanted a change from all the usual films that I watch. I was pleasantly surprised. There is a brutal honesty in the script that really helps you connect with the main character. The twist at the end was also really nice, putting things together in an unexpected, but totally consistent way.

The story is about this guy who went through a recent divorce with a wife that he still loves and, convinced by his womanizing buddy, leaves on a road trip. But the comedy is not really in weird and fantastic adventures on the road, but on realistic and often hard breaking acting from the lead actor while normal things happen around him. I mean, you don't like him because he is charming, or sexy or even a nice guy. He is far from perfect, but he is a normal guy and the things that happen to him are so familiar because they happen to us as well. And the comedy is so much more bitter-sweet because it doesn't feel like a fantasy.

I also liked that it is an easy going movie on one level, but has real subtlety and depth at the next. The budget wasn't great, the acting not stellar, but the film was totally worth it.

Getting over ex's is not an easy thing to do. It takes time.. Road trip with your bff's always a good idea 💡 for it. This movie full of famous China actors n a so so comedy to it.

Way to fill up your own heart again. You have the protagonist who got recently divorced. But he's not completely alone, he has a friend and that friend helps him overcome his pain ... or does he? Because when it comes to women, it seems all bets are off ... until they are not. So while the movie does steer in certain directions, at other times it doesn't seem certain what it wants to tell us or even show us.

There are other side stories and you may find yourself lost at times (if you don't pay attention that is). And also if you start finding out you don't really care anymore. Incidents and accidents happen, but some seem just to be there to fill up the time. Just another chapter that doesn't seem to "help" ... but then again, maybe that's the point. Interesting, if you have patience

With two male stars supporting the whole film, the burden is vulgar, the funny effect of the whole film is quite different from imagination and reputation. Of course, the film tells us something about love, which is very meaningful. Hope that every confused person can get out of the shadow