Sophie’s Revenge – Review

Sue me I laughed. I enjoyed a romantic comedy. I enjoyed Zhang Ziyi. The plot has the dumped Sophie trying to get her boyfriend back after he runs off with a well known actress. She is aided by a cute guy who has a past with the actress. Together they try to wreck the relationship and send the boyfriend back to Sophie. Of course there are other complications. I am a fan of both Zhang ZiYi and Fan Bing Bing, so what’s it to ask when both of them are featured in the same movie? A great romantic comedy that tells about a touching love story. What should matter is the events in between and whether they make you laugh or care about the characters. This story did it for me.

The story doesn’t exactly venture into unexpected territory, but there are lots of little animated scenes and other embellishments that make this more charming and imaginative than the run-of-the-mill movies in the genre being churned out today. There are the hallucinations she has of Jeff still in her apartment, the binge drinking, and the withdrawal from her social life. Sounds endearing, right? Well, that’s what we’re made to think. Naturally, that calls for elaborate payback, though that is complicated by the novel twist that the enemy actress, not knowing who Sophie is, becomes her friend. Awkward. They occasionally provide emotional support for Sophie as she becomes increasingly depressed and they fully support her plan for revenge, badmouthing men while lusting after them at the same time. I believe the filmmakers thought this could in any way function as some sort of progressive feminist situation?

Regardless, towards the end, it got a little boring to me. It seems that when this movie is trying to be serious, they fall back on a lot of cliche’s and predictable plot devices. So why did I enjoy it so much? First of all, the play-by-play of this flashback flick is narrated in elliptical fashion by the title character, a creative artist with a vivid imagination. She informs the audience at the outset that she made a stupid mistake a couple years ago. Secondly, if you google the word “cute”, it directs you to to this movie. It’s got a clear “Amelie” influence, but it doesn’t feel like a rip-off. In addition to having a very nice cast, Sophie’s Revenge is also fun to look at and watch.

Touching and thought-provoking, Sophie’s Revenge is a fairly entertaining example of the genre no matter where the audience lives. When watching a foreign film, there really is no better result than that, in my opinion. In conclusion, Sophie, you lovable utter lunatic! This film is fun! Furthermore, she’s not inclined to let her fickle fiancé off the hook easily, especially when another one of her mom’s many sayings comes to mind, namely, “A woman in love is foolish, but a woman rejected is crazy.” Recommended.