As the saying goes: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you're involved in some sort of creative endeavor or other kind of innovation, people have probably complimented you on your work. Maybe they meant it and maybe they were just being nice or trying to be supportive. How do you know? Well, if people copy or imitate what you do, their actions are speaking louder than their words, and you can feel pretty confident that their kind words are sincere. Take the 2014 South Korean film " 수상한 그녀" ("Miss Granny") for example. The comedy-drama was a huge hit at the South Korean box office, but the best indication of how much people liked the film came when other countries started copying it. In early 2015, China released its own version of the film, calling it "重返20岁" ("20 Once Again"). And that was just the beginning. Add another year to the calendar and you get no less than four more remakes of the film – in Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Vietnamese version is "Em là bà nội của anh", which translates to "You Are My Grandmother", but was re-titled "Sweet 20" (NR, 2:07) for a limited release in the United States. The film became the highest grossing domestic film ever released in Vietnam. It may not draw large audiences in the U.S., but it's a fun and insightful movie that deserves a look from Movie Fans who enjoy funny and sweet films – and learning something about other cultures.
The story centers around a 70-year-old Vietnamese grandmother who has trouble getting along with just about everyone. She lives with her son and his wife and children, but granny is critical of her daughter-in-law's cooking and parenting, while granny's son resents the strife that his mother brings into his household. Granny has a boyfriend, a widower whose spoiled adult daughter fears that granny is going to come between her and her father. Granny has also aroused jealousy in another woman who wants granny's boyfriend for herself. When granny bumps into a former co-worker, we learn that granny has caused problems in the past for people outside her family too. This is a grandmother who means well, but is in such a state of mind that, when she comes across a photo studio, she goes inside to get her funeral portrait made. The photographer says he'll make her look 50 years younger – and he does! Granny comes out of the studio looking like her 20-year-old self. When she gets over the initial shock of whatever has happened to her, she decides to enjoy it, as she says, whether it's real or it's a dream. She buys some new clothes and decides to use her newly beautiful, healthy body to live out the unfulfilled dreams of her youth. She becomes a singer in a band and attracts the attention of a record company producer who wants to work with her and get to know her better. Granny rents a room in her boyfriend's house, befriends her grandson as a peer and poses as his girlfriend when she meets his family. Of course, no one recognizes her, so as she hears talk of this "missing" grandmother, she learns how people really feel about her – good and bad – and it affects her in humorous and serious ways.
"Sweet 20" will remind Movie Fans of any number of similar films like the Tom Hanks comedy "Big" (1988) or Zac Efron's "17 Again" (2009), but this film is different in a few important ways. For example, you could compare "Sweet 20" with some aspects of "Back to the Future" – IF you switched the mother-son relationship to a grandmother-grandson relationship. Also, the majority of these age-changing comedies feature a male protagonist, so making the main character a female opens up different story-telling possibilities. Most significantly, however, it's interesting as an American to observe Vietnamese comic sensibilities and gain some insight into modern Vietnamese culture by the way they tell a story.
"Sweet 20" is a sweet and heartfelt film which is both helped and hurt by its Vietnamese origins. The actress who plays the younger version of granny is adorable and shows a range of emotions, while the actress who plays the 70-year-old grandmother creates a sympathetic character, in spite of her faults. The script is good, but the final product suffers from pervasive overacting and an odd use of cartoonish sound effects apparently intended to boost the comedy at certain moments. Some aspects of this production may simply reflect Vietnamese filmmaking culture in the way that movies from India always seem to feature singing and dancing and Chinese cinematic exports always seem to include martial arts.
American comic sensibilities are such that the Vietnamese version may not translate well, especially with the large amount of yelling, arguing and personal nastiness (as compared with most American comedies) which is often loud and/or shrill and is all in a language to which most American ears are unaccustomed. On the other hand, keeping an open mind will enhance the enjoyment of "Sweet 20" for Movie Fans who may be interested to see how a country as different and relatively unfamiliar as modern Vietnam portrays life – comically and otherwise. Regardless of cultural differences and comedic tastes, this film is fun, touching and life-affirming enough to deserve a mild recommendation. "B-"
