2016-12-16
N/A
103 min
Kevin, a young, fearless runner from a rough neighborhood in Taiwan, falls in love with his tough coach Ellie. When Ellie becomes sick and distant, Kevin fights to survive and conquer the famous 10,000 Miles Silk Road Ultramarathon in order to win her heart.
What starts off as a beautifully shot, wholly engaging film is marred by a few jarring twists and unnecessary plot developments. Kevin and Sean are brothers who, from an early age, realize they have the gift of speed. They naturally are taken to running with the older Sean constantly referring to the younger Kevin as a tag-along. Of course this sparks in Kevin the desire to beat his brother, and so he pursues long-distance running with a fierceness of spirit and a refusal to ever give up. With a strong opening act, this film really just had to ride the tailwind to be successful. Throw Kevin a few losses, maybe a steamy love story that threatens to steal his attention, and an eventual big win in the third act and it's hello, Rudy! But that's not where Director/Writer Simon Hung takes us at all.
As the older Sean's life falls apart and he is reduced to a life of drug crime, Kevin's foolishness gets the better of him as well. What follows are several subplots of varying degrees of silly, including one that tries to pull off a Revenant style battle with a CGI wolf (unsuccessful), and another where someone's kidney is stolen on the black market. By the time we reach the 10,000 mile race of the title, the Director is so confused about what's important to the audience, that the film ends abruptly, leaving the earnest heart that was once at the forefront of this film inside the travel size ice chest with the black market kidney.
