Taiwanese romantic comedy that according to some of the reviews on IMDb is bound to baffle those from other parts in the world. Maybe, or maybe not.

The plot has a musician named Aga, moving to a different part of Taiwan and ending up as postman and then drafted into a rock band that is being put together to help draw people to the local hotel. Its a battle of old ways and new ways, with a duel romance tossed in. One is the romance of our hero with the girl named Tomoko, and the other is the letters from 1945 that were in a package our hero failed to deliver which kind of mirrors the main characters.

Wonderfully acted, at times incredibly touching, with great music and a bunch of great characters this is very often a magical movie. When its on its great, but the film has a couple of hiccups that made me want to grab the director and the screen writer and slap them around.

First the film is way too long at 130 minutes. Had the film worked from top to bottom I would have been happy to watch these people for hours, but as there were times when I wanted to reach for the remote.

The other problem with the film is that the character of Aga doesn't do much. His often inaction affects the romance of the story. He drives around and looks grumpy and kind of interacts with Tomoko, and then he's grumpy some more and then he sings and then he looks at Tomoko and she looks at him, but there is nothing between them. We never know what our hero is feeling. Its not the actors fault, its the way he's written. Until the wedding scene I honestly had no idea who the object of his affection was since nothing was really happening between anyone. Then what happens is so brief that you can't believe that a romance was built out of that. (Its kind of a WTF moment and a review for a film called Finding Shangri-la in China Daily mentioned the sequence in this film as non-moment that they feared was going to be repeated in that one. Apparently its not) If you take the romance as a given its better then if you wait for something to really happen, because it never really does. So much of this movie is off screen that I felt as though there should be another half hour just to explain what we're not seeing.

Annoyance aside the film is worth a look. The music is as I said great and it adds much of the emotion that the film is otherwise lacking. And of course there are the characters who may not always be likable but are often well drawn. Its a good film that should have and really could have been better.

Worth a rental.

This movie really captures the type of local people who live in the Southern parts of Taiwan. The true local people, the type who have never left their hometown and the type who have never adapted with the times. For a Taiwanese person this movie will be hilarious, it truly shows the older generation characters are being the way most of elders are. The actual foul language in Taiwanese dialect can never really be understood unless you realise how bad these words are, and the true meaning of said words and phrases.

Some would say this is a romantic comedy, for me it was more of just a comedy. The romance seemed little and not massively important to the story. For me the story was about a group of people coming together to create a band which no one would've ever thought possible, not the locals and not even the band members themselves. The romance was a side part, it wasn't enough to make you feel sorry for the characters or enough to make you want them to be together.

In Taiwan this is the biggest movie ever, well it certainly seems that way. The Taiwanese rant and rave about it like its the greatest thing since sliced bread, there might be many reasons why... Because it truly captures some of the Taiwanese elders perfectly, or perhaps because Taiwan makes very few movies. And the other only big movies made in Taiwan are of a sexual nature (Tsai Ming-liang).

Overall I did enjoy this movie but I feel without my knowledge of Mandarin language and Taiwanese Dialect, along with my experience of living in Taiwan for a number of years I wouldn't have enjoyed this movie as much. Without a true understanding of the setting there's no way I would've found even half of the jokes amusing.

I think if you know about Taiwanese culture, or if you've visited Taiwan you'll enjoy this movie. But if you don't have such knowledge or experiences you might want to pass this movie by as it won't be enough to entertain you for 2 hours.

This movie is doing well on hype alone, but don't go into it with unrealistic expectations. It is a very well done Taiwanese film which is particularly impressive given its relatively small budget. It's not mind-blowing but it is reasonably well executed, certainly better than a lot of the crap that is out there. It has a good dose of (often local) humour and an interesting storyline and several subplots that unfold at a smooth pace. Performances are more than adequate. Cinematography is top notch. On the down side, there are a few aspects which lacked attention to detail despite the 2 hour running time, some loose ends which weren't tied up, and a romance that feels a little more forced than natural. Also some scenes didn't really "work". However, the Japanese letters which link the film together are beautifully written, and definitely add an extra dimension to the overall feel of the experience. Locals should definitely go and support a job well done.