Jimmy_the_Gent4 Dr Du is a Taiwanese eye doctor who takes out a personal ad to hopefully meet a future husband.We share Du's journey as she meets an assortment of would be suitors. Some can be funny-a salesman who meets up with her because he wants to sell her self defense items, including one that shoots dye in a hilarious scene. Some are weird-a shoe fetishist just wants her to try on shoes for him. Some are sleazy-a pimp merely wants her to be part of his prostitution ring. Some are sad-a mother brings her sheltered son because he cannot cope with the outside world.Dr Du is lonely and looking for love due to a broken romance with a married man. She is only able to reveal her true feelings by leaving messages on his answering machine, though they go unanswered.This is a sometimes heart breaking film, though well worth seeking out if you are looking for something realistic and raw in emotion. Rene Liu is excellent in the lead, her big expressive eyes and shy, awkward smile tell the whole story. A little seen film that deserves to be sought out.

sangepengyou It's a jungle out there… The Personals is a movie for anyone who hasn't yet found what they're looking for or who remembers how tough it can be to find it. Rene Liu plays an eye doctor who's become disaffected with her present life and is craving something more— namely love and marriage. She's attractive, has a good job, and a decent apartment. Up until now she has done everything she's supposed to do, but it just hasn't worked for her. She's still alone. Now, she decides to take the extreme measure of advertising for a husband in the personals. The search leads her down the slippery slope of the modern dating scene whose universal quirkiness transcends the boundaries of all industrialized societies.As a parade of diverse characters respond to the ad from obnoxious to bizarre to tragically pathetic (old coots, odd birds, pervs, nerds, frauds, conmen and salesmen), she starts to wonder if her standards are too high? And, watching the film you have to wonder…Do you have to settle for what's there and what you may not want because of social expectations? In Hollywood's hands, this little film would have become a relentless string of crude and infantile jokes and sight gags contrived to make us groan, but instead, this Taiwanese tale serves us up a quietly understated, poignantly humorous look at the dating scene. No matter where the film might have been set, you're sure to hear a ring of truth to it. At one time or another, we've all been there— whether we like to admit it or not.Might be a little slow paced for some, but, on the whole, a solid little film with which most people will find something to identify. And, whether shy, bewildered, desperate, panicked, or outraged, Liu's performance is surprisingly sympathetic and often quite engaging.

dbrookfield Based around dating and personal ads, there is plenty of humor in the subject matter. Throughout I was kept absorbed and intrigued by how similar our cultures are with respect to dating. There is not a tremendous amount of plot, but some is revealed/tacked on the end.

moribana I find it hard to describe why I liked this film so much. Suffice to say, it takes you to a unique and very real territory about the difficulty in being truthful. I did not realize the journey it had taken me on until its perfect ending, but my sister and I left the cinema in the firm glow of mutual joyous insight. See it, and throw all expectations where they belong: on the rubbish pile.