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Very Formulaic - awkward romcom - with all the cliches!

posted 9 years ago by wotsonurmind
8 replies | jump to latest

It started well, but too formulaic for my liking, with all the cliches possible to elicit sympathy from the audience.

There's very little maths or for anyone interested in a peek into that world.This is almost a rom-com of awkward people with all possible derivative ideas.Sad ,really since there are too many,way too many romcoms about people with social skills but this was an opportunity to do something a little more ambitious.

Its not even the usual British Oscar bait - British films which are clearly made only to get an Oscar Nomination- and hope for some dvd sales and publicity thereon.It is too lightweight for even that!

A waste of time as there are far, far better romcoms about people with limited social skills. Brilliant minds? Forget about it - there's nothing brilliant - just an average lazy,sunday afternoon TV bait!

[–] sharktrager 9 years ago

Nonsense. This is not a romantic comedy any more than it's a thriller. It's a human drama about a boy and his mother.

[–] imemminger 9 years ago

I think the formula would have worked decent on me, but I just did not find the kid likable, even near the end. They did not succeed in making me care for the characters, which is way worse than being formulaic.

[–] Jecht_Sin 8 years ago

Rom-com? I must have watched a different movie, then. The romance was marginal. And sure it isn't a comedy.

[–] rdhaun 8 years ago

I said elsewhere that the film first appears to be about a smart boy struggling to win the math competition, so a romance seems "thrown in so chicks would watch it". But the movie is about autism. If you know anyone on the autism spectrum or have an interest in persons with that condition, it's easier to see that the plot is really about Nathan learning to relate to people. His running off at the end for Zhang Mei isn't a cheesy romantic plot distraction, it's Nathan's successful achievement of stepping toward relating to others.
But, yes, if you were expecting it was about his succeeding in the competition (which I was expecting up until the end), Zhang Mei just seems like a cute subplot and the ending just a "what was that all about?" kind of ending.
By the way, both the younger and the older Nathans did quite convincing jobs at portraying an autistic boy (who just happened to also be really bright).

[–] acedout 8 years ago

Horrible ending. I think they pushed the romance thing a bit too much towards the end. I get that it's trying to show Nathan developing and that love can be more important over his obsession for maths. But it comes across like he also let himself down over the competition. I don't know the true story, but it felt pretty weak given the build up.

Overall a nice film, albeit very predicable and pretty cliquet ridden.

Jo Yang I felt was putting on the Chinese accent a little though. She sounded like a west london girl pretending to do a Chinese accent. Oh wait...

[–] alv790 8 years ago

The competition never mattered much. We have just been conditioned by so many movies to think that winning a competition is all that matters, but realistically, winning a medal in the Math Olympics was never going to condition Nathan's life one way or the other. He can still achieve important things in his life without winning that competition (in fact, just being there is an honor) and he could win and not achieve anything.

In the end, this was not a "sports movie" but a movie about Nathan's autism, and his learning to relate to other people. He did not let himself down. He just won a different competition, and a more important one for his life and happiness. And about the math... well, he's still gifted, medal or no medal.

[–] ChocolateButt 7 years ago

Exactly. This was nothing like a "romcom" or a sports movie. It was just a story about an awkward kid learning how to live in the world- making friends; getting a girlfriend; reconnecting with his mum.

"What race are you? If you don't tell me I'll just...assume the worst."

[–] someonesmart21 8 years ago

Exactly, just an average movie.

Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken -Tyler Durden