By the time the title page drops out in The Tourist Guide to Love (ten minutes is a Netflix rom-com equivalent to a 40-minute wait in Drive My Car), we know exactly what’s in store for us: The heartbroken heroine at the center of the movie , going on a business trip, experiences a fateful change of perspective thanks to romance. Acting as a Vietnam travel tale with a charming romantic comedy taking place in the foreground, this buoyant story isn’t all that different from the streamer’s other offerings like “Love in the Villa” or “Course of Love” satiating any viewer suffering from short stature. passion for travel. Funny, poignant and both progressive and regressive, it may not live up to five-star escapism, but it’s a fun outing that’s well worth taking.

Powerful Los Angeles travel agent Amanda Riley (Rachael Leigh Cook) is used to doing her best for her clients, but not necessarily for herself. She leads a safe, comfortable life, dedicating her talents to her job and her boss best friend Mona (Missy Pyle), and sharing a modest apartment with John (Ben Feldman), her equally boring accountant boyfriend for five years. However, her world is turned upside down when John announces that he plans to move across the country, putting their relationship on hold. Desperate for a change of scenery to regain her charms, Amanda takes an unforgettable vacation to Vietnam to secretly eye a possible new business acquisition: a small, family-run travel company that is up for sale.

After a little mishap with a fish out of the water at the airport, Amanda is met by her savvy tour guide Shin Touch (Scott Lee) and his flamboyant bus driver cousin Anh (Quinn Truk Tran) who whisk her away. to your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Amanda’s tour group was lucky enough to be in the country during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year’s celebration, when everyone participates in traditional rituals of renewal – letting go of the past year and discovering new perspectives in the coming. However, as Amanda enjoys Da Nang and Hanoi learning to be a traveler rather than a tourist, she falls in love with Shin, whose own plans to take over her uncle’s company undermine her cunning plan.

Director Steven K. Tsuchida and screenwriter Eirene Tran Donoghue made sure to incorporate the sights and sounds of Vietnam into the story, and the film is at its most buoyant when it captures the beauty of the country. Interstitial montages are created specifically for would-be explorers, showing landscapes saturated with color and warm light. From Amanda’s compact car surrounded by scooters (a baptism of traffic) in Ho Chi Minh City to more intimate locations like the family’s Xin village in Ton Chang, elegantly constructed episodes show our heroine being carried away, immersed in lush landscapes and cultural traditions.

There isn’t much time in the film for the supporting actors on tour with Amanda, but they are used with meaning. The plot, in which Sam (Jacqueline Correa), her wife Dom (Nondumiso Tembe), and their teenage daughter Robin (Morgan Dudley) rekindle their family ties, counters the heteronormativity of the central novel. While Brian (Glynn Sweet) and Maya (Alexa Pova), long-married and first-time newlyweds, fade into the background, the story of bumbling vlogger Alex (Andrew Bart Feldman) makes a big impact in a short amount of time. This may be an idealized portrait, but it’s nice to see that tourists aren’t depicted as bumbling jesters disturbing landmarks or mocking rituals for comical purposes.

There’s a light feminist streak here, as both Amanda and Sheen save each other from despair at various points, while the callback, in which Amanda navigates chaotic city traffic as a pedestrian, showing off her growing confidence, is well crafted. However, the relationship of female characters with each other is deplorable. From Manicurist Amanda to Grandma Sinha, their main topic of conversation usually revolves around the man. It also doesn’t help that Amanda spends very little time working on herself before jumping into a new romance. Its goal should be independence, not codependency.

However, Cook and Lee exchange brilliant lines that are best seen in their walks and conversations while seated. Their chemistry builds on well-deserved character-building moments as they bond over the lanterns of Hoi An, float down a river, or head to My Son’s Sanctuary. Cook makes Amanda an easy-to-root heroine filled with strength, humor, and vulnerability, while Lee exudes wit and tenderness, especially as he digs into Singh’s deeper layers. He also enthusiastically captured the obligatory beef shot by emerging from the ocean during their day at the beach in a gender-reversed spectacle of Ursula Andress’ famous appearance in Dr. No.”

It’s surprising that in a film that inspires its main characters to take the less-traveled path, the filmmakers themselves don’t take that advice to heart. They not only rely on the preservation of genre tropes, but also do not trust the viewer to guess the hidden feelings that are always expressed through dialogue. While the journey with these characters is not disappointing, it may require a little more fuel to propel them further.

I love good behind-the-scenes facts about movies, even when they’re dark, but fair warning, these from the BuzzFeed* community are more than bizarre. Read on if you want to see these films in a whole new light.

*There are also a few from r/MovieDetails and from yours truly!

SANTA FE, New Mexico — Prosecutors on Thursday said they would dismiss a manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 murder of a cameraman on the set of the Western ‘Rust’, but warned that their investigation was not yet complete and the actor was not yet complete.

Special prosecutors Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis announced their decision to drop the felony charge after “new facts came to light that warranted further investigation and forensic analysis,” without giving details. The manslaughter charge against Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who is responsible for the guns in the film, remains unchanged, they said.

“We cannot act under the current time constraints and based on the facts and evidence provided by law enforcement,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “This decision does not remove Mr. Baldwin’s criminal responsibility, and the charges may be re-indicted. Our follow-up investigation will continue.”

Baldwin’s lawyers were the first to announce that prosecutors were changing course, a dramatic turnaround for the Hollywood luminary, who just months ago faced a multi-year prison sentence.

“We are pleased with the decision to close the case against Alec Baldwin and call for a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident,” defense attorneys Luc Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement.

When the news of his dismissal arrived, Baldwin was at the Yellowstone Movie Ranch filming the Rust reboot. Pre-production was underway Thursday at a new location in Montana, 18 months after filming halted cinematographer Halina Hutchins, Rust Movie Productions said.

Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal when he fired, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Sousa.

Baldwin said the gun went off by accident and he didn’t pull the trigger. However, the FBI’s forensic report showed that the weapon could not have been fired if the trigger had not been pulled.

John Day, a Santa Fe criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the Rust case, highlighted the arrival of a new prosecution team in late March and suggested that this may have been a factor in the decision to drop the charges.

“This is very different from what the original prosecutor said,” he said. “It does raise the question that the Santa Fe District Attorney originally said, ‘We hold Alec Baldwin liable in part because of the role of the CEO of the production and (that) it was a very sloppy proceeding’ – does this mean that the new prosecutors different point of view?

Lawyers for Gutierrez-Rid said they fully expect her to be acquitted in court.

“The truth about what happened will come out, and we will get answers to questions that we have been looking for answers for a long time,” lawyers Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion said in a statement.

The case against Baldwin was already on the wane. The weapons charge, which meant a much longer sentence, was dropped and the first special prosecutor appointed in the case resigned.

The 40-year career as a top-notch actor includes early blockbuster The Hunt for Red October and a starring role in the sitcom Studio 30, as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and the film adaptation of the novel. Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. In recent years, he has been known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.

After the execution, the 65-year-old man did little work, but was hardly hiding. He remained active on social media, making videos on Instagram and posting interviews and photos of his wife and seven children on podcasts.

Rust security coordinator and assistant director David Halls dropped out of his appeal for unsafe firearms in March and was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Plans to resume filming were laid out last year by cinematographer Matthew Hutchins’ widower in a proposed wrongful death lawsuit settlement that would make him an executive producer. Souza said he would return to directing Rust to honor the legacy of Galina Hutchins.

Despite the settlement, lawyers for the Hutchins family said they welcomed the criminal charges against Baldwin when they were filed. They had no immediate comment on Thursday’s upcoming layoffs.

After a scathing safety review by New Mexico regulators detailing ignored complaints and misfires before Hutchins’ death in October 2021, the production company agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.

Baldwin did not travel to New Mexico to appear in court, which is not required of him by state law. Evidence hearings have been scheduled for the following month to determine whether to proceed to trial.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Oltwis has previously said her office is seeking justice for Hutchins’ death and wants to show that no one is above the law when it comes to firearms and public safety. She says the death of the Ukrainian filmmaker was tragic and could have been prevented.

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press contributor Susan Montoya Bryan of Albuquerque, New Mexico.