Get the latest gossip
‘YOLO’ Review: A Megahit Chinese Boxing Movie That Needs More Punch
In Chinese smash hit 'YOLO,' director-star Jia Ling gives an endearing performance as a meek layabout who finds a new lease on life in the ring.
Macho sports-movie tropes meet with bright chick-flick framing to curious effect in “ YOLO,” either an ostensible boxing drama that doesn’t pick up the gloves until the third act, or a misfit romcom that takes a late and unusual turn toward transformational self-help territory. That’s been enough to secure it an international release through Sony, but “YOLO” is likelier to bemuse outside viewers unfamiliar with Jia’s persona as a celebrity comedian — and her extreme weight-loss journey while making the film, a narrative that powered its publicity on home turf. “YOLO” is itself a work of cultural translation, adapted as it is from Japanese director Masaharu Take’s well-regarded 2014 drama “100 Yen Love,” which starred Sakura Ando as a downtrodden Tokyo woman reclaiming her life through pugilism.
Or read this on Variety