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一路向西 (2012)
Due West: Our Sex Journey


Reviewed by: STSH
Date: 11/05/2012
Summary: Quite a letdown

First of all, I’ll be damned if I could find anything westerly about this silly schoolboy angsty comedy. The guys travel north into China for horizontal shenanigans. The main character and narrator is a randy young chap who goes through a comedic catalogue of frustrations in pursuit of satisfying his considerable libido and sky-high expectations.

Much of the movie is taken up with him and his worries, and this is the film’s greatest flaw. There’s lots of smutty talk between him and the other guys, and not a whole lot of screen time devoted to lovely girls with little or no clothing on. There are plenty of beautiful babes but, with a couple of exceptions, they spend very little time on screen or are part of several tableau scenes (i.e. a dozen women quickly paraded). Most disappointing is the lack of full frontal nudity. Only one actress, the statuesque WangLi Danni, comes tantalizingly close.
That said, there is a fair serve of pretty strong sex scenes.

Comic relief is at hand, in the form of the young man’s best buddy, who speaks in obscure phrases and never looks him in the eye. He sort of gives the young man guidance, but it takes time to work out what the hell he means.

One can only shake the head at the appalling judgement of the guys where women is concerned. They agonize over and dismiss several groups of very nice-looking girls for the strangest reasons (or lack of any reason), with the vague aim of chasing greater beauty, though one of the guys (played by the writer/director) chooses an ‘ugly’ girl (for ugly, read just a little overweight) on the basis that she’ll treat a man better.

The good parts of this disappointing flick include the front credits, which feature a train snaking around silhouettes of curvaceous women and promise much but deliver little. The scenes where the young man tries to accommodate the hang-ups of his wacky girlfriend hold a certain cringing delight and are occasionally funny.

The penultimate scene is terrific, and is almost worth the wait through the rest of this (mostly) tripe. This is mainland starlet WangLi Danni’s showpiece scene. She really is a sight to behold, and their scenes generate a few hints of real warmth. She declares that she really does care for the guy, though he does nothing at all to earn or deserve such regard.

If the rest of the film had been made to the standard of the penultimate scene, it would have been a whole lot better. As it is, I can only recommend this film if you really feel like a visit to the cinema and you set your expectations fairly low. Don’t bother to rent it as a video – there are far better Cat III’s out there.

Reviewer Score: 3