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Cast: James Snyder,Sun Fei Fei,Anthony Montgomery,Michael Gross,Priscilla Barnes
Aimlessly cruising through his first post-Stanford University summer, 22 year old David Braddock travels China on family business where he meets Mei, an ambitious young girl who urges him to find his life's direction.
David in his first year out of Stanford seems to be having a hard time getting his priorities in life on track, his life consists of plans to promote beach volleyball as a valid sport and his failing relationship with his girlfriend. His family owns a toiletry product business and they send David to China to try and drum up some business as well as scouting it out to see if it is a good idea to open a factory there. David is a fish out of water in China, he has no clue about the culture or the language and at first it is tough to even get his meetings straight. One day he visits a could be client at their factory and there he meets, Mei who has plans of a better life for herself and is very good in the English language so he agrees to help David out with his meetings. These two young people couldn't be more different, Mei has her feet firmly planted while David is still attempting to figure out what he really wants in life, one thing he does know is that being in China is not one of them. An American in China is a film that at first looks like any other comedy that has been released in the last few years but hang in there because as soon as David's plane lands in China the film takes a turn for the better. The plot is simple but the story is nicely written and it packs some solid drama,comedy and romance. David's life takes on new meaning after meeting Mei who encourages him to find his path in life and go after it, she becomes his saving grace, the voice of reason in a otherwise confusing world to him. She also finds that David is falling for her and she too begins to have feelings for him as well. The story is sweet,charming,sad at times and funny at other times. A like drama that contains just enough humor and romance to appeal to both men and women. A coming of age film that teaches us that in life you can achieve anything you want to when you put your mind to it and that true love can be found in the unlikely of places. James Snyder(She's The Man) does a terrific job playing David, he brings the needed emotion to a role that demands so much of it. Sun Fei Fei, a Chinese actress plays Mei and she lights up the screen in every scene she is in. As a fan of Asian cinema I know her from seeing her in many films and I got to say I have never seen her better. Sun Fei Fei is an extremely talented actress with pure, natural beauty, I swore she was glowing in several scenes in the film, a real angel. Her and James had great chemistry together and it made their relationship very believable. The supporting cast were all terrific as well including, Michael Gross and Priscilla Barnes who play the mother and father of James. Also I must mention Anthony Montgomery, who plays David's best friend, Sha. Anthony provides much of the needed humor in the film. The film has much more going for it than your typical romance flick, the locations in China including The Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven and Tianamen Square are breath-taking, it is like China becomes another character in the film and it gives the story that extra something special. Follow your dreams in life and love, that is what An American in China is all about and the journey we take with David, is interesting,scary and life-fulling. An American in China will be released to DVD on November 24th, I highly recommend marking this down and picking up this inspiring film that will bring tears and a little laughter along the way.
Released by Osiris Entertainment. **** Out Of *****