Boring

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY shares some qualities with some of its north of the border Reel 13 Canadian Indie counterparts. It is a slice of life multi-protagonist piece akin to the awful, but highly-rated WILBY WONDERFUL with the misguided mystical elements that were woven throughout A PROBLEM WITH FEAR. LLHP does a much better job in developing its characters than WILBY did and the mysticism in question is based on ancient Chinese culture and therefore, somehow seems less contrived and more elegant than the inexplicable technology-based type from FEAR. So, the script, on the whole, is decent. While there are several comedic moments that fall flat, there are many others that are genuinely funny in almost a Shakespearean way (one character's rendition of "Sometimes When We Touch" remains my fave). There are some structural deficiencies (neighbors' gossip as a form of exposition is never a good move), screenwriters Mina Shum and Dennis Foon paint their characters honestly and not a one of the three story lines seems to be favored over the others. Unfortunately, the performances in the film don't help to elevate the script in any way.In the blog for WILBY WONDERFUL, I alluded to my general distaste for Sandra Oh's work. In LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY, however, she towers over the other actors in the film, but that's not saying much. Almost every other actor (the main kid Mindy is okay – appropriately precocious) in the piece seems new to film acting. They all seem extremely uncomfortable, delivering their lines as if they didn't really believe them. While Oh is significantly stronger than the rest of the cast, she's not fabulous either. She has several good comic moments and a few good serious ones, but she really pushes during the very emotional moments and that's never fun to watch.There is plenty of charm in LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY, enough that I found myself wanting to like it more than I ultimately did. Overall, the premise of the film – that a little girl playing with ancient Chinese charms changes the fortunes of all the people around her – is a little hard to buy, but it's not dissimilar to the kind of farce you might find in more classical fare like Moliere or even ancient Greek comedies. At the end of the day, however, the performances sunk this ship. If you can't believe the characters whose story you're watching, it makes for a pretty rough journey. All the charm(s) in the world can't save you there.(Find out more about this film or other Reel 13 films on www.reel13.org)

I feel this movie was great for a number of reasons. The lead character was charming, earnest, and while not a seasoned actress he had a strong grasp of her role that brought immediate sympathy.The story was outrageous, but it's about magic. Of course it's outrageous. The fact that the magic is self-taught from a do-it-yourself-spells-and-charms book just makes it feel fresh, with a Gilbert-and-Sullivan style story twist to boot.My only criticism is that this would be a perfect movie for kids but for some side stories that deal with serious issues like parental estrangement and suicide.

A sweet but slight portrait of Chinese-Canadian community outside Vancouver, Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity benefits from two wonderful leads — Sandra Oh and Valerie Tian – but comes out a bit short everywhere else. Oh (who is really Korean-Canadian, but who's counting) plays the harried single mother of Mindy (Tian), an adorably geeky twelve year-old. Mindy is desperate to fix her mom up with an eligible bachelor (Russell Yuen) who works with her at a Chinese restaurant, and turns to Chinese traditional medicine and Taoist magic. In the meantime, other members of the community struggle with family strife, economic hardship, and conflicting values. Only the romantic mother-daughter story, and a story about a son who turns to religion rather than working in the family butcher shop, are really interesting. The rest is kind of a muddle — interesting in its way, but failing to contribute to the plot.Because of Sandra Oh's recent high-profile appearances in Sideways and Grey's Anatomy this might get improved distribution on DVD. I got it through the filmmovement.com series.

This movie is made by a Canadian Chinese director who does not understand Chinese culture. She does not even speak the language. Now, how many chinese people who speak perfect English would work in a chinese restaurant as portrayed in the movie? Many things are exaggerated about the chinese culture and unfortunately, it creates new stereotypes unheard of before. Immigrant families will not make the 2nd generation continue in the same 'profession' - as what the BBQ store guy tried to do in the movie.People may find this movie sweet with the cute little girl running around trying to create a witch's brew with ideas created for this movie only. Non of this exists in chinese cultural supersticion.And what's up with the Sandra Oh girl? She is being used for the 2nd time in Mina shum's movies, they must be best friends... using a Korean to portray a Chinese is nuts.In summary, if you are someone from a chinese culture and understands it clearly, you will be scratching your head after watching this movie. Otherwise, those viewing from the outside will get a chuckle and will wonder more if this is actually what's going on inside a chinese family.