Perfect Addiction

I was really looking forward to this movie adaptation, as the book is actually quite good. However, the first strike against this film is the fact that it has its female lead narrating, and giving a play-by-play of every single thing as it happens. The viewer should be able to intuit the feelings of the actor based on their performance ,not hear juvenile inner monologues about how situations have made them react. The false bravado she displays doesn't exactly lend credibility to the movie, or her role in it. Ross Butler is the only person in this entire production that doesn't over act or make you under value him as an actor. It was OK, but it could've been so much better. Perhaps a different lead actress, one who didn't constantly pull faces,would've made all the difference .

It was really enjoyable to see an Asian male lead play a strong, sexy, masculine and romantic role. Rare and really wonderful. Kiana Madiera and Ross Butler have great chemistry together and really sold both the mixed martial arts (MMA) training and the romance.

Sienna is an MMA trainer working out of the gym if a famous former MMA fighter and surrogate father figure, Julian. While training clients she attends school to get her business degree to eventually partner with Julian in the gym. Things seem to be on track, until she finds out Jax, their best client who is also her boyfriend, is sleeping with her teenage sister Beth. Desperate to find a cheep place to stay, her friend steers her to a room in a basement apartment and Kayden.

Kayden ends up being an MMA fighter in the underground illegal fights and a big winner until Jax shows up on the scene. Sienna eventually becomes both his roommate and trainer. Sienna is also realizing how toxic her and Jax's relationship really was...how he gaslighted her and prevented her from pursuing her own goals. Training Kayden, Sienna is hoping to get some revenge on Jax.

Testosterone heavy MMA story with an equally tough girl and a heavy message about girls being able to do it on their own. There is an equally heavy message about women being valued for more than just their looks...ie they can take a face punch in a fight.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it. I am a hardcore romantic and I think this will appeal to other romantics out there. It has the added benefit of really showcasing a physically fit and strong Asian male (something that is rare in the Western film industry).

Watched the movie, and Enjoyed it. It is a good movie from various aspects... ... such as directing, acting, cinema-photographing, atmosphere, the ambiance of the gym-s and the fights, the training, the movements, and the devotion of the young actors for conveying the characters.

When reading the actors background, you don't notice any martial arts experience there, but... they obviously trained much, and well, for their roles in that movie making. Precise, direct, economic movement fighting.

And kudos for the director for her courage in that MMA direction. She deserves it. The director did not prolong the fights for the sake of attracting "fight oriented" audience. But retained the focus on the story.

The movie as story telling, is not perfect, but it is believable and flowing. As the phrase goes... "kurz und scharf" (= "brief and sharp" = ~ "straight and to the point").

That movie's name, and subsequently its "description" here and elsewhere... are misleading and not fit with its contents. Pity. It might draw 'wrong' viewers to it. I wish the description would be changed...

Usually I refrain from writing reviews here, but prefer to be reading them. But now... as this movie is still fresh in the arena... :-) and I see only one review ...which missed entirely the whole point of that movie making (and pulls to misleading directions...), I thought to do something about it... also, at times, I look at the movie and its fights from a different perspective, as been dealing with various martial arts (mainly Budo Taijutsu) for over 46 years, (as part of "way of life" although dealing with visual arts, design and architecture as my mainstream).

So. In short, watch and enjoy.

Everything in this movie just feels off. The dialogue is choppy and a lot of times feels like it's written by a highschooler, a lot of the acting is so so, the main characters motivation and drive seems to flip flop all over the place and some of the editing is just confusing. And what is with the constant narrating?! It was so condescending to the audience. Heaven forbid we would be given a chance to figure some of the plot out for ourselves! No, every single feeling and thought needs to be rammed down our throats through narration just so there can't be a shred of doubt about what the writer means. Even though most of the times the female lead is literally describing what we are looking at! The only reason I'm giving this 5 stars is because there are some moments where I feel the main characters have some chemistry. Mainly when they are being playful and there is witty banter. The moments they are having 'a heartfelt moment' felt so forced to me and the dialogue in these scenes was so bad, it becomes funny. Alas though, I don't think this is meant to be a comedy.

I felt like it jumped so far in between each scene and the way the characters interacted it was like I questioned if I'd accidentally skipped a scene or wasn't paying attention. Like they made the movie hoping people who read the book only watched it so they could fill in the gaps and bugger the people who hadn't read the book 🙃 ....

It had the potential to be a pretty good story if they just focused on filling in the details and building up the tension more between the characters more. There didn't appear to be real sexual tension between any of the main love interests.....

Wanted to love it!!