Our Times (2015)

Photo Source: http://boyz86-simplicity.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/our-timesmovie-review.html

When I saw the trailer for Our Times I couldn't wait until it hit the cinemas. All the themes pointed to a story that wouldn't disappoint and it had already received rave reviews.

Lin Cheng-Hsin (Vivian Sung) is our protagonist. She's a 15 year old with a huge crush on golden boy Ouyang Fei-Fan (Dino Lee). She receives a chain letter stating she will be doomed if she does not pass the letter along. Foolishly, she sends it to Hsu Tai-Yu (Darren Wang), the head of the school delinquents. Tai-Yu gets in to a car accident after reading the letter and seeks out the sender. He finds Cheng-Hsin and forces her to be his "friend" otherwise he'll hurt Fei-Fan, thus she becomes his errand girl.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

The movie is instantly gripping as each character is brought to life. Fei-Fan and Tai-Yu are polar opposites and you can't decide who you want Cheng-Hsin to end up with. Actually that's not true. You'll definitely be rooting for Tai-Yu. It's wonderful to see how Cheng-Hsin and Tai-Yu interact with each other and slowly fall in love. It's also wonderful to see the story from both Cheng-Hsin and Tai-Yu's perspectives. The film really packed in a lot of scenarios and you feel like you're watching a 4 hour drama rather than a 2.5 hour movie (which is actually a good thing). You tend to find there is no real villain in this movie but rather misunderstandings get the characters in to conflict. 18 years of conflict am I right?

Cheng-Hsin and Tai-Yu go from being master and errand girl, to friends, to wanting to be more than friends and it's so beautiful to watch. Cheng-Hsin has such a strong character for an unpopular girl who normally gets dealt a bad hand. Whereas Tai-Yu is really motivated by Cheng-Hsin to succeed and does a complete 180 in his life.

The only negative I can say about this film is I wish the Cheng-Hsin and Tai-Yu characters 18 years in the future were played by their teenage cast. Considering the teenage cast are actually in their 20's maybe just some makeup could have done the trick. Or using actors that looked more similar to Sung and Wang. Also the ending was a bit cliché. It was a real bummer that it took them 18 years to reconnect. But still, I'm glad they did. 

Our Times is such a cheerful and fulfilling watch. It's set back in the 80's and the attention to detail from the set and costume designers are spot on. If you want a feel good movie that makes you yearn for youth and innocents with bucket loads of funny moments then this one is for you. I cannot stress just how amazing this movie is.

9 out of 10 stars.

If you've seen this movie what did you think?

Until next time my drama queens and kings,
Sarah