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Date Movie

Two romantic movies have been released to the Chinese movie market, though it’s not Valentine’s Day. As so-called “chick flicks,” which are rarely produced on the Chinese mainland, these two movies seem targeted at couples who go to the cinema on dates; they recall to mind the infamous Hollywood production Date Movie (2006), which imitated famous films such as My Big Greek Wedding and Pretty Woman.

The plot of Falling in Love can easily be guessed if you are a Hollywood chick-flick fan. A guy meets a girl on a subway train and falls crazily in love with her. Not knowing her name or phone number, the hero searches for the girl with the help of a paparazzi magazine and his three “helpful” friends. Of course, there are misunderstandings, but who would fail to guess the happy ending? From this movie we can clearly see how far away Chinese movie industry is from Hollywood. With the same plot Hollywood will produce a beautifully shot movie with handsome hero and attractive heroine, while Falling in Love pitifully chose two beginners as leading actors whose acting is as plain as their looks.

Call for Love is somehow a better example. Similar to Adam Sandler’s Click, the hero has a “magical” cell phone. Every time he dials a button, a pretty woman appears with a romantic or frantic experience. Seven celebrities took the roles of the “seven women,” symbolizing seven different aspects of love and marriage. A good script and good cast, however, could not survive poor directing and photography. Such movies should at least be filled with modern and beautiful scenes which are totally missing in Call for Love, even though it was shot in Beijing. Are our directors too used to shooting the poor side of China?

Watching the two movies does little to improve a date, but audiences will learn one thing: Even chick flicks are not easy to produce!