If you like Guy Pearce's work you'll likely want to see this film, so as a loyal fan I did. The variety of characters this actor has played and the non mainstream productions he's been a part of, like Memento, The Proposition, First Snow, Traitor, Lawless are the kind movie buffs gravitate to and seek, which is why I considered it in the first place. The director/writer and producer Pauline Chan is not a newcomer to directing or producing; she did come up once again with a very original plot.
Mei Mei, played by Zhu Lin, is an orphan, abandoned by her father at a young age; he dropped her off at a remote institute in the Chinese countryside. She is smart, engaged and liked by the other children at the orphanage; she has had, over the years, a sponsor from Australia with whom she corresponded and one who painted a picture of a life she dreamt of being a part of. So when an opportunity to meet him presents itself, by way of a concert tour by the orphanage's choir, one that brings it to Australia, she is full of hope and determined to make it happen.
What we discover, soon after she arrives in Sydney is that the sponsor is not what she, or the audience, expected; indeed, Dean Randall, played by Pearce, the sponsor, is an inmate at the local penitentiary. The innocent sixteen year old Mei Mei is not however dissuaded by the prospect; she showed determination to find him and get a face to face, despite her orphanage director's instructions not to do so. The encounter was as much a surprise to Randall as it was to Mei Mei. She temporarily abandons the choir and manages to find work so she can be with her 'sponsor father' when he is to be released; a bond between Randall and Mei Mei develops. But when a young orphan from rural China tries to survive in the big city that is Sydney, a series of misadventures ensue as can be expected. Randall will put his life on the line and even risk of a lifetime back in jail to go rescue the child he now feels responsible for. The very ending reminded me much of that feeling at the end of the film Unleashed; it is heartwarming, so you could say this is a feel good movie with a bit of drama. I liked it well enough.
Mei Mei, played by Zhu Lin, is an orphan, abandoned by her father at a young age; he dropped her off at a remote institute in the Chinese countryside. She is smart, engaged and liked by the other children at the orphanage; she has had, over the years, a sponsor from Australia with whom she corresponded and one who painted a picture of a life she dreamt of being a part of. So when an opportunity to meet him presents itself, by way of a concert tour by the orphanage's choir, one that brings it to Australia, she is full of hope and determined to make it happen.
What we discover, soon after she arrives in Sydney is that the sponsor is not what she, or the audience, expected; indeed, Dean Randall, played by Pearce, the sponsor, is an inmate at the local penitentiary. The innocent sixteen year old Mei Mei is not however dissuaded by the prospect; she showed determination to find him and get a face to face, despite her orphanage director's instructions not to do so. The encounter was as much a surprise to Randall as it was to Mei Mei. She temporarily abandons the choir and manages to find work so she can be with her 'sponsor father' when he is to be released; a bond between Randall and Mei Mei develops. But when a young orphan from rural China tries to survive in the big city that is Sydney, a series of misadventures ensue as can be expected. Randall will put his life on the line and even risk of a lifetime back in jail to go rescue the child he now feels responsible for. The very ending reminded me much of that feeling at the end of the film Unleashed; it is heartwarming, so you could say this is a feel good movie with a bit of drama. I liked it well enough.