Five Blind Dates: Review
By Sioph Leal
Lia (Shuang Hu) feels stuck in her life with a failing traditional Chinese tea shop, inherited from her beloved grandma. On top of this, she is single, and her younger sister is soon to be married while she is alone but reluctantly gifted with a prophecy. The tea shop and her love life are intertwined, and a fortune teller reveals that she will meet her soulmate on one of the next five dates she goes on. With pressure from her family, Lia agrees to be set up to avoid disappointing those she loves and the business she has put her whole life into.
Shauna Hu co-writes as well as starring as Lia and is the best thing about the movie with a central performance that does its best to elevate the material and stop it from being a dull movie. Despite this being a rom-com, it is fairly dull despite Hu’s attempts to bring life into the movie. Hu really does try to bring something engaging to this movie, but her performance is the only saving grace while the rest of the movie falls flat with a lack of dialogue, comedy and appeal.
There are countless rom-coms but where this one tries to stand out is being almost entirely Asian-Australian cast. While it painfully lacks in comedy, it is refreshing to see a different cast than what is normally in the genre. Other than that, there is nothing. The same tropes used in a romantic comedy are in the film with a tried and tested plot of “business owner, unlucky in love” that graces Hallmark and is enjoyed by all. Five Blind Dates fails to capture the typical charm of its genre and unfortuantly lacks in comedy and romance. The plot quickly becomes tired and although it shows promise at times, never makes use of it. Rather than capitalising on what makes this show work, the predictability is one of the biggest turn offs of the series, coming in second to the writing.
The stereotypes are painfully done that lacks any entertainment. Normally, these typical characters can bring some familiarity and fun to the material but is another example of the movie being devoid of any charm. There is the childhood friend (Yoson An) who could be Lia’s soulmate which we have seen in many romantic comedies or romance movies but even that familiar trope cannot hold interest.
Five Blind Dates should easily appeal to those who love romantic comedies with predictable plots of the genre, but it fails to provide comedy and romance. Shuang Hu is undoubtedly the best part of the film but only in performance as the writing is a huge factor in what lets the movie down. There are numerous movies of similar plot and genres that will make you laugh or feel the romance, but this is not one of them.
Five Blind Dates will start streaming on Amazon Prime on February 13.