Yolo

I was so confused by this movie that I went out of my way to write my first ever review on this site. Basically, what you have here is a very mediocre awkward rom-com for 90 minutes followed by 20 minutes of processing and healing from trauma, followed by the most lovely story told only within the end credits! This last bit was by far the best part of this movie and it has me longing for the longer "behind the scenes" or documentary they could have made out of the actress' real life journey, which was way more moving and affective than the movie itself.

I get the premise and the message here is important, it just didn't feel particularly well told for most of the movie. Maybe this is my bias in not speaking the language and missing something in translation, but it didn't feel that way. This movie clearly has some moving things to say that it finally said at the very end and in the credits. I wish the whole movie had been that way, and then this review would have been a solid 8. As it was, I spent most of the movie reconsidering my decision to see it, and then feeling a little more on board at the end. Overall, this means that I liked it by the end more than I expected to from the first half, but nowhere near as much as I wanted to.

Kudos to the actress/director for her bravery and her commitment to her craft. This was clearly a very personal story for her and that part was indisputably beautiful.

Definitely worth it. Personally.

First, I went to see it just to find out what Jia Ling is like now. I knew she was quiet a large sized lady....and when I heard she lost 100 pounds, and my initial reaction was shock and curiosity. You know, her original weight was 170-180 pounds! My feelings were both stunned and admiring.

Before the moive was released, she told the audience "I hope to bring something to the audience." She did it!!!

First of all, Jia Ling's successful weight loss is probably the most superficial and obvious thing about the movie. I deeply resonate with this because I have been bouncing between losing and regaining weight for years. I've never been able to defeat myself, whether it's my cravings or my bad habit of quick enthusiasm that fades away.

Secondly, I also understood a deeper meaning: We live once, and we should win at least once.

This time, she is living only for herself.

"Le Ying" (Ling Jia) is a larger lass who has little success with anything save for half-drinking cola and sleeping for most of the day. She's been left a flat by her grandmother but her soon to be divorced sister "Dou Dou" (Zi Yang) needs some property if she is to be able to continue sending her daughter to private school. After initially agreeing to a transfer, a barney ensues and she storms out determined to find somewhere of her own to live. That means a job. Discipline. She gets a job in a BBQ joint for a boss who's a bit of a lecher, but she can deal with him. It's he who sends her to fetch some cigarettes from his car and that's where she rather curiously encounters "Hao Kun" (Jiayin Lei) who is a boxing coach at a gym round the corner. He's not having much success recruiting new clients so she agrees to be one. Now, on the face of it, she's not the most likely of boxers, but what now ensues sees her face a series of challenges that make her think deeply about who she is and who she wants to become. This reality check is only exacerbated by an appearance on her sister's rather comically cynical television talent show that makes "X Factor" look like "Mastermind" (though it does feature quite an entertaining strop between the panellists). The story itself meanders along a bit too slowly - it doesn't need to be over two hours long, but there can be no denying the effort put in by Ling Jia as her character comes to an empowering degree of self-realisation. It's a bit stereotypical, I suppose, but it's also quite frank and entertaining. It's can be funny, a little poignant and there's just the merest hint of chemistry between the two boxers. I doubt you'll remember it for long, and the ending is a bit of a muddle, but it is worth a watch.

From the content of the Douban short reviews, it seems that most viewers have not seen "Hyakuen no Koi." Personally, I think that "Yolo" as a remake is at least not inferior to the original. The localization of the film is very successful, whether it's the tone, the settings, or the plot. Although I also like "Hyakuen no Koi," Chinese audiences during the Spring Festival still need a more sizzling hot performance. Especially the dialogue between Le Ying and Hao Kun at the end, it has already surpassed "Hyakuen no Koi." The core is about how a person with a self-closed, introverted personality and depressive tendencies gradually finds their existential proposition through collisions with others and society. Boxing and weight loss have become the most superficial symbols, but even so, she still works hard, which should be sincerity. After all, she didn't have to do this.

The meaning converyed in this movie + This movie acheived a huge success above others during the chinese spring festival + This movie directed by a female and the only movies directed by a female during spring festival time = Some of the male audiences(Chinese Ken) did after their emotianl hurt: 1. Rating lowest everywhere online like dog peing; 2. Accuse its sucess came for its overly marketing; 3. Blindly propagandizing another movie by a whole male team is a real movie over YOLO. However that movie do maketing too (because of it's spring festival, no one in movie industry would like to miss it); 4. Trying sooooooo hard to twist the meaning of what the movie really want to express by blindly accusing it's a movie promoting girls need to be thin and ignoring by purpose how's the female character mentally change. However, the direct said it's not a movie about a women losing weight instead of a women refound her enthusiasm of life from boxing. And a muscling body (Boxer body) just a tiny byproduct.

I don't want spoil so I won't say any more detailed story here.

But telling the truth, the editing and story telling skill are remaininng room to grow but the combination of the real meaning of this movie want to express and the chinese male audience's action, like a social experiment, is reallt a fun thing after the last time I saw Barbie.

It's worth for you if you like to find out in this movie how's the progress of feminism consciousness made in Mainland of China at this time.

Considering by these, I'd rate 10 to recommend ppl to watch a movie that hurted Chinese Ken's feeling.