Netflix’s latest romcom ‘A Tourist’s Guide To Love’ stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Scott Ly, Missi Pyle and Ben Feldman in the lead roles. Is the film worth your time? Or can you simply skip it? Read the full movie review to find out.
Director: Steven K. Tsuchida
Cast: Rachael Leigh Cook, Scott Ly, Missi Pyle, Ben Feldman
Available On: Netflix
Duration: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
Amanda Riley (Rachael Leigh Cook), a travel industry professional, undertakes a covert mission to gain insight into Vietnam's tourism sector after her five-year relationship with John (Ben Feldman) ends unexpectedly. Will she be able to experience a new leash of life in Vietnam? Will she end up falling in love with the country? Or will she end up falling in love with someone special? Will she have one of those holiday romances and get her heart broken again? Will the old flame crop up unannounced and try to woo her back again? Or will he be dumb enough to totally overlook her feelings? Well, to know all that, you’ll have to watch the movie.
Rachael Leigh Cook has been doing so many romcoms that her performance has become so very repetitive that you wish she chose some other genre. The character arc that the role is set in isn’t very different from any of the previous romcoms that she has done. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t bad. It’s just that there is nothing new on offer, and you know exactly every step of the way.
Scott Ly is funny, good looking and to say the least, handsome. Considering it’s a romcom, these 3 are more than enough to make him work for the audiences. His character however is so flat and doesn’t have any tone besides being a happy-go-lucky person. His character is a ball of mush, to be honest, and Scott Ly has managed to pull that off decently without much trouble.
Ben Feldman stands out in a short and sweet performance. While there isn’t much to do in his character, at least he manages to bring in the awkward laughs and the uncomfortable silences in a romcom, which gives the story its much-needed depth.
The rest of the supporting cast have so less of screen time that they hardly ever deserve a mention. There’s no stand-out breakthrough performance from anyone.
Eirene Tran Donohue’s writing is so predictable that you can guess what’s going to be thrown at you from a mile ahead. There is nothing new which you haven’t seen before. Just setting up the story in Vietnam doesn’t make the story dramatically change its colours. It’s the weakest link in the entire film. The dialogues however are noteworthy and create a necessary impact. The one where Scott Ly explains the difference between a tourist and a traveller is sure to stay with you for life.
Steven K. Tsuchida’s direction tries to bring in a bit of cognizance to the semblance of a story that we have at hand. Making sure that the casting was regionally perfect made his direction come out perfectly. To add to that, the way he has managed to keep the story from sagging down in the middle is commendable, otherwise romcoms like these with a predictable storyline, always tend to get too boring in the middle with their emotional and long speeches. Also, adding the names of the cities in between the scenes so as to present the story as chapters was also a good move. It gave the layman's audience a structure of what to expect from that Vietnamese city.
Jon Keng’s cinematography is pretty much the only good thing about this movie. Keng has managed to explore Vietnam from the eyes of a localite. Not picking up the popular touristy spots was a demand of the film, and Keng made sure that the off-beat locations that he picked were equally good-looking and exotic. His camerawork draws you towards Vietnam and makes you want to take a trip to the South Asian country right about now. The way he has shown a clear demarcation between the cities and the countryside helps the viewer understand the varied lifestyles of the people in Vietnam.
Lauren Connelly’s editing is crisp. She managed to not let the story drag for too long and gave every city on the route just about equal importance. That made it easier for the viewer to stick on till the very end.
Jina Hyojin An and Shirley Song’s music and background score are other highlights of the film. If you’re blind, just by listening to the background score you can get a feeling about the locales. The background score is that good. It helps to transport you to Vietnam. Songs like ‘Falling Into Place’, ‘Changes’ and ‘Heart Light’ stick on with you after the film gets over.
Yes
‘A Tourist’s Guide To Love’ is a predictable romcom which will leave you with a feeling of a warm hug. There is nothing in the storyline that you wouldn’t see coming in from a mile ahead. The story is old and dilapidated, and it just seems like setting it in Vietnam was the only difference the makers could think of. It’s an old wine in a new bottle and that too a very cheap one. If you’re into mushy romcoms, you might be able to sit through this hour-and-a-half-long film as it’s a feel-good film with nothing new to offer. At best, it’s a Passable One Time Watch. I am going with 2 stars.