| Zhao Benshan, Dong Jie, Li Xuejian,
Dong Lifan , Niu Ben, Ling Qibin
A man stretching the truth for his own sake soon begins doing the
same for someone else, with increasingly complicated results, in
this gentle comedy from China. Zhao (Zhao Benshan) is a guy in his
early fifties who's out of work but still wants to marry his girlfriend
(Dong Lifan). However, his often cranky sweetheart thinks he runs
a hotel, and Zhao is trying to keep the illusion alive with the
help of his pal Li (Li Xuejian) by turning an abandoned bus into
a "love hotel" for couples who lack privacy in their homes.
But business isn't all that good, since the old-fashioned Zhao asks
unmarried couples to keep their doors open to ensure nothing untoward
happens. As Zhao tries to convince his girlfriend to walk down the
aisle with him -- and struggles to raise the money she demands first
-- she introduces him to Wu Jing (Dong Jie), the blind teenage stepdaughter
she inherited from her marriage to her now-deceased first husband.
The woman insists that Zhao give Wu Jing a job in his hotel; since
the bus/hotel has been towed away, this isn't a practical possibility.
Zhao and Li put Wu Jing through a fake job interview to keep up
appearances, and when she breaks down in tears talking about her
deadbeat father, he decides he has to do something for her. Zhao
moves Wu Jing into his home, and with the help of his friends, sets
up a phony massage therapy center where Wu Jing works with the "clients"
-- actually Zhao's friends, most of whom are also unemployed. But
the bigger and more complex the illusion becomes, the harder it
is to maintain, though Zhao feels compelled to do so for the sake
of the girl's feelings. |