Bitter/Sweet

Saw the film tonight with a date. Both of us were touched to tears. Beautiful photography in a lush setting. Easy to digest, straight to the heart! Well written and had some very cool traditions. The actors were believable and I bought the story. Romantic and funny, I can see why Jeff Hare won the awards for Best Director in Houston. Also written by Hare a talented and versatile young director. This may be his best work yet. The female lead grew on me as the film progressed. The supporting actors were good, and the father (Brolin) was just right for the part.

Recommend Highly.

A part Thai film, part U.S. film, "Bitter/Sweet" did a wonderful job of merging the two cultures for both audiences. It centers on Brian (Kip Pardue) a young American, for the Western audiences to connect to, but takes place in Thailand. It even manages to include a small-town girl in big-city who comes back to her hometown storyline, without me completely noticing. That's because "Bitter/Sweet" is comedy first, romance second, and melodrama doesn't even come into play.

There's nothing that you haven't seen before, except perhaps Kip Pardue as the leading man. The ignorant American was thankfully down-played and we actually got a fairly real character who was charming and sincere. I quite enjoyed Pardue and his character. The other characters were pretty cliché, especially the "evil" local coffee-buyer who became almost cartoon-ish. Spencer Garrett as the comic relief character was a lot of fun, and of course the girls were all cute.

The romance angle was entirely predictable, but it works on its cute and sweet factors. The coffee element was really only there as a plot point and to back-up the romance story. But a plot in a romantic comedy? Hollywood hasn't discovered this yet and it is certainly welcome. "Bitter/Sweet" is light and sweet and an enjoyable trip to Thailand.

I hadn't read any reviews on this movie before watching it, as it was available on NETFLIX instant. I figured, at worst, it would be a pretty good "travelogue" of Thailand, with it's legendary scenery, especially the women. What I found was an absolutely charming love story, with enough humor and sexual tension to make it an extremely good view. Kip Pardue really surprised me; here, he comes across with the wholesome charm of a young Tom Hanks. Whenever the film begins to lag, the actor playing the brutish Austrian saves the film by doing something humorous and absolutely unexpected. While the plot contrivance involving financier James Brolin is pretty obvious,somehow the resolution seems fresh,largely due to the actress who plays the lead actresses sister.

The scenery is knockout gorgeous, even more so than some of the women, which is saying a lot. I started this one about 12:30 at night, expecting to turn it off and go to sleep after a few minutes. I stayed up until after two; because, like a trashy romantic novel, I couldn't "put it down."

Based on pure entertainment value alone, I give "bitter sweet" a 7 out of 10.

The story has been on the screen at least a couple of million times. Boy meets girl... whatever. This time it's set in Thailand, which is an excellent opportunity for breathtaking areal scenes, beautiful music, weird local incidents, gorgeous food, party yeaaah... Nope. Enter a boring US doofus and an obnoxiously rude female lead (not rude as in you feel the sexual tension between both and you can't wait until it plays out, nooo - rude as in I'm 13, I don't know how to deal with myself and I hate the world). Both are accompanied by an Austrian dude of dubious morals (seriously, he has a very concerning vibe). Then the whole thing gets naturally covered in cheese.

No character depth or development, because that's too much effort. Also, no interesting story, because a twist might cause an emotional shock in the viewers. Keep it simple and predictable, and slap an American soundtrack to it, because that symbolises the McDonald's tourists are looking for when they are abroad.

It's sad really, because not every movie needs to be expensive as long as it has chemistry and soul. And somehow no one cared to give it either.

I couldn't work out if this a poor made for TV film or a Thai production. I think its the latter. On the plus side it shows how stunning Asian ladies look. On the down side, the lead character Ticha cannot act. The other girls around her could.

Spencer Garrett as Werner stole every scene he was in - which tells you a lot about the acting standards of the rest of the cast.

If only they had dropped the pointless James Brolin (a big name added for the film backers?), spiced up the love scenes then this could've been a really good film. A cynic would say this is simply one big advert for Thai coffee - certainly had me going for the instant stuff!!

A missed opportunity. Catch it on a movie channel