Review | Film review: Book of Love – Tang Wei, Wu Xiubo in Finding Mr Right sequel
Part Sleepless in Seattle, part You’ve Got Mail, Xue Xiaolu’s film largely keeps its two would-be lovers apart. While it’s definitely not a romantic comedy, it’s sophisticated, lyrical and melancholic
3.5/5 stars
While its Chinese title promises a follow-up to the relentlessly sweet romantic comedy Finding Mr Right, writer-director Xue Xiaolu’s third feature is less a sequel than – let’s face it – an inspired cash grab.
Working with a different story that nevertheless preserves the reverence Xue’s 2013 hit showed for Nora Ephron’s films, Book of Love takes a page from both Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail for another transcontinental romance starring Tang Wei and Wu Xiubo. It doesn’t exactly star Tang with Wu, however.
After a traumatic childhood that leaves her father’s ex-girlfriend (Kara Wai Ying-hung) as her only family, gambling addict Jiao (Tang) lives a hollow existence in Macau that sees her drift from one disastrous affair to another. Meanwhile, Daniel (Wu) has made a real estate career in Los Angeles since he reluctantly emigrated from China as a teenager; as he looks to persuade an old couple (Paul Chun Pui, Wu Yanshu) to sell their house, however, the womaniser also begins to reassess his own heartless nature.