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...
You can't help but notice this very attentive title of the film. The title gives an impression that this one is going to be a laugh riot. The film actually does manage to give you few laughs here and there but overall I personally felt that the film was a little mish mash of skits and unnecessary drama was created/added towards the end. Nelson lives with his partner Angelo but remains closeted to his family, while they continue to try to fix him up with a nice Jewish girl. After they mistake centerfold neighbor Sybil for his fiancee, he finally comes out. The mother and father are shocked. Mother slowly starts accepting but the father has harder time. Starting here is just a series of events that just show struggle of the parents including meeting Angelo's family and then Angelo and Nelson's quest for a baby and fighting for gay rights to be able to adopt a baby.
In my opinion the film should have just focussed on the other's struggle for accepting her son's sexuality. That would have made a much fun with compared to her accepting almost immediately and then trying to support her son in everything. The child angle was uncalled for. I mean there was hardly any time between the couple coming out as a couple and immediately wanting a kid. I mean, really? Everything in the film was actually very cliched. The best part about the film was casting. The Jewish mother was right on the mark, so was the father and the gay couple. Although some more chemistry between the 2 good looking men would have helped.
I think high expectations sometimes kill the fun. The film was good but definitely could have been much much better. I will still suggest to watch it. (7/10)
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