Be My Family (2023)

This has moments that are genuinely funny but sadly there are not really enough of them to sustain an over-long 2¼ hour drama. That story centres around the feisty young "Qianqian" (Yiran Zhou) who finds herself amidst some family discord and a rather comical kidnapping scenario with the competent Zhang YI and Pan Binlong; some wages, some refrigerated pigs, way too much child screaming and lots of driving around. It is a bit chaotic and wobbly to watch, but "Uncle Donkey" and "Crispy" have some fun adventures that end up concluding quite intensely - even poignantly - towards the denouement. To be fair to director Dapeng Zhang, he does try to take his time with the story and the characterisations which ultimately proves the bedrock of this gently interesting story of human nature that's well expressed as the people (maybe just too) gradually evolve. Had it lost half an hour and been more focused, then it could have been quite a compelling film. As it is, though, more is definitely less...