Bitter/Sweet

This movie is awful and insulting to all the Thai Women in Thailand. My biggest complaint with the movie is their depiction of every main, female, character in the movie as rude, antagonistic, and bitchy to complete strangers. Anyone who's ever been to Thailand knows that Thai Women would never act the way they were acting in the movie with a total stranger. As a matter of fact, most Women anywhere in the world would not act so rude to a person they've just met, and expect them to buy their coffee beans. Also, the American Male, who's the coffee buyer in the movie is also portrayed like an push-over, idiot. The Writer should go back to writing class or give up writing anything that has to do with people. It's not because his characters are one dimensional - they're worse, and more like half dimensional.

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.

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.

Syncretism: The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought. Just what I wanted and needed to see on this particular night of viewing.

There was no lingering bad aftertaste. Throughout the movie are scenes of people briefly reflecting on, and then reconciling with and dismissing their old lives and actions, and starting completely anew. Landlocked, deep inside a continent, this attitude, way of life, world view, is so hard to relate to, that such a movie is a desperately needed breath of sea air.

Sure, there are minor weaknesses; the native (or not native? he looked like a pudgy Chinese mandarin) coffee buyer was badly handled; it doesn't effect the outcome. The efflorescence of the lush vegetation, culture and women from the sand and rain, that's what's important.

The simple production emphasizes the fragility of the relationship between the two cultures, and in a good way. Highly recommended.