Movie Digest
Lu Shi is a Chinese immigrant living in New York. She is currently finding it challenging to earn a living in the city. Despite being trained to become an architect, she washes dishes at a restaurant, lives on leftover food, and drowns in a pile of eviction notices. One day, she lands an interview at a prestigious architecture firm. However, and realizes she will need a valid visa to accept an entry-level position. She realizes that she can get a visa based on medical parole and takes up the opportunity, which would require her to contact her estranged father for the first time in years. She finds herself caring for a seven-year-old boy with Hepatitis, whose treatment is only available in the US.
The Feel-Good Part
The film tackles the burden of familial problems, and how that hinders a young person’s goals in life. The female lead is strong, intelligent and capable, which makes the unfortunate events she goes through more impactful and allows the audience the opportunity to root for her. The film is funny yet insightful on the struggles of living in an expensive city and the troubles that come with being a caretaker of a family member. There is no melodramatic sequence in the movie; the filmmaker chooses to keep the film as natural and subtle as possible. The film is quite empathetic to its characters as it doesn’t blame the characters for the circumstances they are facing. Instead, it tries to understand their position and what led them there. The cinematography is excellent and provides the film with good visuals, despite the low budget of the movie as it has high production value.
The Disappointing Factor
There is an apparent disconnect between the scenes of the film that is Chinese from the ones that are in English, as the dialogue doesn’t have the same fluidity as the English art of the written seems poorly written for the most part. The filmmaker seems less confident while writing and directing the parts in English. This becomes quite distracting as the film goes from heartfelt to awkward quite quickly as some of the most integral scenes of the film are not executed as well as some of the other parts.
In-Depth Analysis
The film is a realistic portrayal of being a young person in the brute workforce and how familial connections often hold us back. The story is quite simple but its execution is engaging and intriguing. The film doesn’t falter in many places, and when it does, it’s pretty easy to look past it because of how well-intended and well-executed the film is.
Star Power
All the performances were excellent. The cast delivers their respective characters with nuance, which makes the audience connect with the characters well. The realistic acting performances are one of the most crucial aspects of this film.
Overall Opinion
Model is a great film for people looking for something light yet meaningful to watch in their spare time.
