THE LAST WOMEN STANDING DVD (剩者为王) (2015)

SYNOPSIS: Sheng Ruxi, a white collar woman in her 30s, leads a successful career while having no love life, which is the issue that her parents and friends are extremely anxious about. However, things change when she meets her new colleague Ma Sai, a 25 year-old young man whois considerate and attractive. Sheng Ruxi can’t help but waver from her original perspective because fo the unexpected sparks of romance between them, reconsidering about every aspect of her life.  

MOVIE REVIEW:

Real life mirrors reel life especially in the case of Taiwanese actress Shu Qi. The beautiful and acclaimed starlet who will be 40 this year remains single and unattached even after years of rumors circulating of her being in love with fellow actor and director Stephen Fung.

In The Last Women Standing, the actress who recently won praises for her performance in The Assassin plays Sheng Ruxi, a single woman who experienced more success in her career than her love life. She is what people termed as “leftovers”. Her mum (so convincingly portrayed by Chinese actress Pan Hong) is so worried about her only daughter’s happiness that she arranges a blind date in the form of a nice but bland doctor for Ruxi. But fate is a funny thing. The new (and five years younger) company recruit, Ma Sai (Eddie Peng) seems to caught the eye of Ruxi. Will the good-looking couple end up happily ever after?

Luo Luo who directs and adapts the material from her own best-selling novel seems to have issues telling a decent compelling love story. First, she wants to establish the fact that singles can actually stay single and live happily on their own but the end results seem otherwise. Then she tries to set up a fairy tale scenario of how a woman met and fall in love with a young and handsome man but from the way the story flows, it’s rather hard to convince the audience why Ruxi for no reason decides to hook up with Ma Sai just because they spent the night together after the plane fails to take off during their planned company trip.

Last but not least, Luo Luo even includes a subplot of Ruxi’s mother developing Alzheimer which sadly turned nowhere by the time the credits rolled with a melodramatic score in tow. Of course, Shu Qi and Eddie Peng are definitely not the cause of it in fact they are the sole reasons why The Last Women Standing actually stays afloat. They are easy on the eyes and their chemistry is pleasing. Veterans Jin Shijie and Pan Hong who played the parents of Ruxi ought to be applaud for their flawless performances while Lynn Xiong whom most will recognize from the Ip Man trilogy also pops up once a while as a close buddy of Ruxi. Acclaimed cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin shot this so it’s almost guaranteed Shanghai is going to look gorgeous on screen.      

Sadly, The Last Women Standing is a wasted opportunity to bring across meaningful messages about social stigma and the ever-revolving views on marriage and romance. It’s neither a sweet rom-com nor an interesting social drama to begin with. Strictly for fans of Shu Qi and Eddie only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Decent ambient sound effects, clear dialogue and passable video transfer. Honestly not a title that requires a 5.1 set up. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee