等一個人咖啡 - Cafe. Waiting. Love.

等一個人咖啡 (Cafe. Waiting. Love.) is an 2014 film out of Taiwan. The film stars Vivian Sung, Marcus Chang, and Bruce Hung. The supporting cast include Vivian Chow, Megan Lai, Lee Luo, and Paulien Lan. The movie was released on the same weekend in both Taipei and Hong Kong. The follow up of Jiubadao's (九把刀/Nine Knives) You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年,我們一起追的女孩). Targeted as the next blockbuster, it didn't even take number one at the Taiwan box office. There was even a joke in the movie about Nine Knives being a box office king.

The story of a gal who tries to find love at a Cafe with a standoff-ish boy. Throw in some melancholy baristas at the cafe. The gal, Siying, is played by Vivian Sung as a frumpy and bossy (八婆) senior in high school that happens in the Café of a boy she's infatuated with after a chance encounter. The Abusi of the café mistake her a applicant for the waitress job and the boss lady hires her. Now she can eavesdrop on him all the time. Enter A-Tuo, a seventh year senior that's not very smart academically, but full of life working multiple odd part time jobs. A-Tuo and Siying end up spending a lot of time together. Who will Siying choose?

I've been watching a bit of Zhong Guo films recent, a string of them in a row. Just by chance, I watch four Taiwanese films in a row right after. This is the last of the fourth. There is a distinct difference in the feeling of the films of Zhong Guo and Taiwan. To those that may not have ever been to Taiwan or even Taipei, you may think the movies are just another town in Zhong Guo. But there is distinct feel of the buildings in Taiwan. This film is no different. You see it in the classroom, the café, the city streets, the restaurant. All very unique to Taiwan.

The movie was decent, I wasn't enamored with the Siying's character. If anything, she bordered on annoying. But what kept me in going was A-Tuo. They build a distinct, unique, and unapologetic character. How do you figure that the most unsuccessful student is the one that has the most genuine outlook on life? You don't, and I don't know if the filmmakers even know what they had in A-Tuo. Bruce played him to a tee with the wide eyed smile that went for miles.

If you like Taiwanese cinema, this is a must watch as it is a slick production and features Taiwan in the movie.