I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
A mainstream hollywood movie coming up with such a film is definitely good to see with some leading men playing the main protagonists. The story is simple and not too complicated but by the way Robert Di Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman have acted, it makes the whole difference.The story is simple. Rusty (Philip Seymour) is a female impersonator who lives in the same apartment building as Walt (DeNiro), a retired policeman who works as a security guard. During a robbery of a drug dealer, one of Rusty's fellow drag performer Amber is killed and DeNiro suffers a stroke trying to prevent the crime. The drug dealers are looking for their money and they keep finding different ways to harass the trannies to get the money back but that money is not found. The doctor suggests that Walt shold take singing classes and that will help in his stroke. He decides to take classes with Rusty. They have nothing in common except both of them are alone. They get along with each other and on one such nights sharing secrets, Rusty tells Walt that he (she) has money that Amber had of the drug dealers. The dealers later find out about it and the movie ends with a fantastic climax where Rusty and Walt work a s a team to save money and fight with the drug dealers.
Like I said, he move is simple but what makes special are the performances. The movie otherwise looks very low budget. The name comes from the drag contest called Flawless that is won by this girl who has a crush for Walt even after he has had a stroke.
Watch it for performances for DeNiro and Seymour. (6/10)
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