I sat down to watch the 2014 Chinese movie "Dearest" (aka "Qin ai de") without knowing what I was getting myself into here. All I knew about the movie was that it was a Chinese movie, and that was essentially all that was needed for me to have an interest in watching it.
I will say that writer Ji Zhang definitely managed to write a compelling and interesting story here, and it was a story that struck harder as it is something based on actual events. And director Peter Ho-Sun Chan managed to make the transition of the story from script to movie in a very good way, especially as it was a movie that sweeps the audience away with it.
However, it should be said that a running time of two hours and eight minutes, the movie tended to get a bit prolonged and dragging on at certain points throughout the course of the movie. So a more round-handed trim in editing could perhaps have worked in favor of the movie.
While the storyline was interesting, the movie was so phenomenally well carried by the cast. Especially Bo Huang should be mentioned here, because he really stepped up and delivered a powerful performance. And it was such a surprise to see him step away from the comedy genre and take on something with a bit more meat on it. He starred alongside of Wei Zhao, whom also put on a very convincing performance.
If you enjoy a heavy drama, and don't mind one that revolves around something as atrocious as a child kidnapping, then you definitely should sit down to watch "Dearest", if you ever have the chance to do so. This was a very entertaining and enjoyable movie, not to mention quite the surprise of a movie for me actually.
My rating of "Dearest" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.
