Review | Stand by Me film review: Mason Lee stars in heart-warming Taiwanese romance drama
- Lee – son of two-time Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee – stars as a university student infatuated with his classmate, played by Ivy Shao
- Film has a refreshing balance of maturity and humour, with plenty of laughs and pop culture references along the way
4/5 stars
Following a series of supporting turns in films such as The Hangover Part II, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Who Killed Cock Robin , American-born Taiwanese actor Mason Lee – son of two-time Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee – finally transitions into fully fledged leading man in the romantic comedy Stand by Me.
Lee plays Jiu-bing, a university student and part-time running coach who until now has allowed every significant decision in his life to be dictated by his infatuation for classmate Bo-he (Ivy Shao Yu-wei). But moving away from home and the routine of school life sees these lifelong BFFs slowly drift apart, not least when Bo-he meets handsome senior Mai-zi (Edison Song Bai-wei).
Following an explosion in his dorm, Jiu-bing is forced to find lodgings off campus, and becomes the unlikely roommate to eccentric high-schooler Tian-xia (Tsai Jui-hsueh), who helps her father (Chu Chung-heng) run a struggling pastry shop. Jiu-Bing’s young accomplice is initially keen to help him win Bo-he’s affections, but their elaborate stunt sees the pastry shop fall further into debt, and Tian-xia is forced to acknowledge her own growing feelings for Jiu-bing.
Adapted from Song Xiaojun’s novel Pace Runner by first-time writer-director Lai Meng-Jie, Stand by Me approaches its subject matter of one-way infatuation with a refreshing balance of maturity and humour. Jiu-bing has always wanted his relationship with Bo-he to be more than just friends, but has never had the courage to step out of the friend zone.