With all due respect, given the not-so-great reputation of Vietnamese films, it's a good movie, however, it fell short of a few things...
First, some good stuffs: The backstory is very touching and real: the hard world of lottery players and the kids serving the players. The cinematics are very good, the view is basically identical to what some people would find in certain alleys in Sai Gon. (this one though, for me I don't know exactly, a friend of mine told me about it). Half of the film's duration is a real journey, full of pain and exciting moments, progresses good. There is a nice little throwaway moment when Phúc was asked about how did he got his name, which captured some laughter in the room.
However, the last half of the film is disappointing as there are quite a lot of confusing moments which completely threw the story flow off, especially the ending. They ended up chasing each other in a never-ending manner, which raises many questions. What happened after the chase? Will Ròm find his parents? And many more.
If the entire half of the movie got some improvement in the story flow, it would be a great movie, but for now, it's hard to get this film above 5 or 6 due to its less-than-OK ending.
First, some good stuffs: The backstory is very touching and real: the hard world of lottery players and the kids serving the players. The cinematics are very good, the view is basically identical to what some people would find in certain alleys in Sai Gon. (this one though, for me I don't know exactly, a friend of mine told me about it). Half of the film's duration is a real journey, full of pain and exciting moments, progresses good. There is a nice little throwaway moment when Phúc was asked about how did he got his name, which captured some laughter in the room.
However, the last half of the film is disappointing as there are quite a lot of confusing moments which completely threw the story flow off, especially the ending. They ended up chasing each other in a never-ending manner, which raises many questions. What happened after the chase? Will Ròm find his parents? And many more.
If the entire half of the movie got some improvement in the story flow, it would be a great movie, but for now, it's hard to get this film above 5 or 6 due to its less-than-OK ending.