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...
After a series of not so decent films in the QFest film festival, the day ended with a decent film. The film was apparently shot in just 12 days (At least I was surprised to find this out). No where did the film leave an impression that it was such a quick job. The premise of the film was romance and comedy. Of course, like me you would also say that main character was dumb and he could have done much better but then who cares. Sometimes there is no logic. This film is a refreshingly witty take on one gay boy’s search for Mr. Right. Blaine, a newspaper columnist has low self esteem issues. Unaware of how cute he is, he can’t seem to meet guys, let alone form a relationship. His beefy go-go boy roommate Cameron— who has no shortage of willing partners —can’t understand why he doesn’t pounce and enjoy some one-nighters. So one such night on internet, Blaine meets Zander, a shy guy who recently has relocated from Texas. They chat and talk on phone for few days for long hours and there is this instant chemistry. When the time comes to exchange pictures, Blaine accidentally sends Cameron's pictures there by starting tis train of confusion. For some reason (and this is where the fault lies), Blaine can't tell Zander the truth an din turn asks cameron to play along. This case of mistaken identity escalates when Blaine begs his roommate to go out with Zander. When it seems they hit it off, Blaine feels love has passed him by again but he finally gets it in his head and tells Zander the truth. Expectedly Zander feels cheated because he was getting no chemistry from Cameron. But all's well that ends well with one of the most romantic end of a gay film where Zander is singing a nice romantic song for Blaine.
The film had decent dose of love, romance and comedy. What was weird was why would a good looking man like Blaine have problems finding love. Chemistry between the 2 was good but as mentioned above, there was absolutely no reason for Blaine to not tell Zander the truth right in the first place. That's the only absurd part. One thing that I liked was gay roommates followed the code of conduct of not sleeping with their friend's date.:)
No great but had its sweet and romantic moments. (6/10)
Comments
As for Zander, he's so cute he might just live as Cameron, and go from partner to partner and this is probably what the movie is about. Good looking people don't often look for deep bonding, and the very few of them that actually do usually have trouble finding one another. Did we not all experience that ? I mean, at some point, hasn't any of us been expecting someone like Zander to walk into our life, some Prince charming willing to commit and settle down for good ? Isn't the "gay thing" all about good looking people only wanting sex and average looking ones looking for a long term relationship ? For most of it, I think it is.Hence so many movies dealing with this fact.
Anyway, this is not the best gay romantic comedy in the world, it has its flaws as you pretty well exposed them in your review, but I really had a good time watching this ; I wish all the crap I watched over the past five years were at least as good as this one.
But reading your comments, actually made me think from a different point of view which I missed while I was watching this film. Thanks for your insights.
I have so many films that I need to see but no time :(
16 year!! WoW! You are indeed lucky !