Be There or Be Square (1998)

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I loved Bu jian bu san, the English title being Be there or be square. Well, I'll be honest. When I first saw it (it was an in-flight movie) I didn't enjoy it. But when I watched it again, I grew to love it. It's a touching romance movie that has its ups and downs and you're never really sure if the couple will get together.Some reviewers object to the offensive and exaggerated portrayals of American (read white American) cruelty and depravity. Maybe. But let's not forget the American portrayals, offensive and exaggerated portrayals of Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, you name it) culture. Oh well.

I'm definitely not what you might call a flag-waving, patriotic American, but this movie managed to offend me on numerous occasions with its exaggerated portrayals of American cruelty and depravity. Nearly every American--with the exception of the LA police (ha!)--is a criminal, pervert, or jerk, and the Chinese main characters are more or less the only sane ones. First, the innocent Beijing girl (Fan Xu) gets robbed and tied to a chair by thugs. Later, she and her friend enter a restaurant which happens to be in the process of being burgled. The mean American criminals in the restaurant single out our Chinese male protagonist (You Ge) because he doesn't have money in his wallet and they pistol whip him. And America isn't just portrayed as full of thugs, but perverts, too. While in the police station, You Ge is pinched on the ass by--horror of horrors!--a transvestite.I have no problem with the main premise of the movie--namely, that immigration to America is difficult and the picture-perfect society foisted on the world by Hollywood is far from reality. But that doesn't mean that the US is solely made up of criminals and good people are extinct. I have great respect for Chinese culture, but this movie mostly serves to show the "bad side" of America, while holding China up as a symbol of harmony. Don't even get me started on the cheesy love story.Or maybe I'm wrong, and I just need to spend more time in LA.

This is a very interesting movie. This movie revealed the hardship of the previous generation of Chinese persons immigrating to America and finding no work. It had both humor and irony woven into the plot. It detailed the relationship of a man and woman both struggling in America to make ends meet, and the disillusionment of the "American dream." It used irony and American and Chinese stereotypes. One memorable part is when the man is teaching American police officers Mao-ist sayings to assist the police in arresting citizens that speak only Mandarin. This is a very funny movie, it is even funnier if perceptions of both the East of China and the West of America are understood. I do agree that this may not appeal to the average Westerner, but it greatly appealed to me...Great movie!!!

This isn't your typical romance movie - it deals with the ups and downs of a romance between two Chinese expatriates living in the USA. Unlike the typical Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie, the viewer is left guessing as to whether or not the two lovers will get together. A very touching ending.