I was glad to see my childhood legend, Jackie Chan, as one of the lead characters. It's one of the things that attracted me to the movie.
The movie was directed by Taiyan Li and written by Taiyan Li, Carbuncle Yan, and Yining Yan. It features Jackie Chan, Yuchang Peng, Jianing Zhang.
The story follows Reng, an old man who is suffering from gradual memory loss due to a disease called Alzheimer.
Reng is a lonely and depressed elderly man; his trouble started when his son Zhuangzhuang, a weightlifting athlete, travelled and never returned.
News has it that Zhuangzhuang died in a fire accident while trying to rescue a young girl, but the truth was kept from Reng due to his condition.
Reng remained in hope, waiting patiently for his son, who is a champion in weightlifting, to return.
Zhong Bufan, a young man looking for a better life left his home, came to Reng's city seeking a job and eventually got a car-washing job from Xiao Jia.
That is where the story began properly; Xiao Jia offered him accommodation at Reng's house, only for Reng to mistake Bufan for his son Zhuangzhuang.
He loved and cared for him. His health condition complicated things even more; sometimes he remembers Bufan as his tenant, but most times he remembers him as his son.
At first, Bufan wanted to take advantage of the old man's condition and take some of the fortunes the man had as his son, but eventually, he changed his mind and decided to embrace and love the old man.
This movie explores family, loneliness, sorrows, regrets, bonding, compassion, and so on. It shows that people can become family even if they never knew each other before, if the right environment is available.
There are a lot of things that stand out in the movie; Jeng's emotional side is one of them.
Although Jeng (Jackie Chan) is known to be good with the roles he plays, this one was touching. I was moved by one of the scenes where he almost got himself killed in the car, trying to ensure that Bufan didn't miss a call.
The tears he shed when explaining to Bufan got me emotional. It was a touching sight.
Bufan also played his role well as a confused young man trying to fix his life. It shows what a lot of young people are facing out there today.
I find it interesting because it's something I can relate to. Life out there is not easy, especially if you're trying to make it.
You will see a lot of obstacles and opportunities, sometimes even tempting opportunities to do crazy things to survive, but when you stay focused and remain on the right path, you will not regret it.
For weaknesses, some aspects of the character's life story were not properly explored; Bufan was emotional when his birthday was celebrated by Reng and others. He claimed he had never been celebrated before, and it was touching.
A curious person like me would like to know more about his inner side. Sadly, we were kept in the dark about his emotional need.
I anticipated more from Bufan and Su Xiaoyue. I thought the two would blend well and eventually build a romantic relationship but the movie left them and the relationship on a casual side even when obviously, if the two had bonded beyond being friends, would have made the movie more fascinating.
The ending was great, even though I was not happy that Reng had to die, but it was the best for him. It hurts to forget your memories, especially about those you care about.
I will recommend this movie to those interested in drama, comedy, and family movies.
