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Hello everyone, I am Xiao Feiliang.

Although it is not uncommon for a movie to receive a lot of negative reviews before it is released.

But it is indeed quite strange that a movie directed by Xu Zheng has received all negative reviews before it is even released.

There is a question on Zhihu:"Xu Zheng's "Reverse Life" has been criticized before it was released. What are the possible reasons behind it?", which has more than 1,000 responses, all of which are criticizing the movie:

This is very intriguing. After all, Xu Zheng has also made many good movies, including "Dying to Survive", which also reflects the suffering of the grassroots people.

At the same time, despite the poor reputation, "Reverse Life" successfully cut 1.67 million box office. For reference, the movie "The Last Hundred Years of Love" released last monthThe pre-sale box office of Pleasant Goat Movie has reached 10 million yuan, the contrast is very obvious.

Some friends will ask:

Why was "Backdraft" criticized so badly before it was even released?

At the beginning, "Reverse Life" caused controversy because of a poster released by their official website.

In the poster, the actors playing the delivery boys are laughing happily.On the other hand, none of the real delivery guys in the background can smile., presenting a very split contrast state:

Then people remembered:Most of these actors who play delivery boys are millionaires, no worries about food and clothing.

Rich people play the roles of low-class cows and horses, and in the end we cows and horses have to buy tickets to watch our own cow and horse lives. It is not surprising that netizens who have seen through this reality dislike this movie.

Of course, there are still many speculations and negative comments about this movie, so I won’t post them all. After all, if you don’t investigate, you have no right to speak.What if the movie is a surprise after it's released?, slap the haters in the face?

So this weekend,I went to the cinema to watch the preview in advance., let me see if the movie is really as bad as netizens say!

After watching it, I'll tell you what I think(There are spoilers, so be careful if you still want to go to the theater to watch it)：

Objectively speaking,"Reverse Life" does indeed more realistically reflect the difficulties that deliverymen face at work.You can see all of these in movies, such as overtime, difficulty in delivering food to hospitals, property management discrimination against deliverymen, overtime due to getting lost, traffic police checking illegal parking, bad reviews, navigation problems, car accidents, etc.

in addition,Xu Zheng also did a good job in interpreting middle-aged menIn the movie, he faces a series of problems such as unemployment, mortgage, sick parents, and children going to school. The forbearance and cowardice he displays do not seem like acting.

In addition,The film also portrays the takeaway boys quite well.Basically, every delivery guy who appears in the film has his own characteristics, and his performance is quite down-to-earth, which is worthy of recognition.

The above are what I think are the better parts of this movie, and the rest is just complaints.

First of all, there is a point that everyone was pessimistic about before the release:"Reverse Life" only dares to focus on the suffering of grassroots food delivery workers, but dares not expose the problems of platforms, regulatory authorities, etc.。

The film only vaguely "hints" at the platform's exploitation of deliverymen in some details.For example, money is deducted for overtime, smile verification, the webmaster does not care about the life and death of the deliveryman, and the senior management humiliating Xu Zheng with the words "respect the algorithm".

But these things are not mentioned in the movie.At the end of the film, there is a scene where Xu Zheng is elected as the single king and gets the opportunity to speak on stage at the commendation meeting.

At this time, the leaders of the food delivery platforms were sitting behind Xu Zheng. I thought he would take this opportunity to complain about the platforms.Unfortunately he didn't, still saying some bland words, saying how difficult it is for the delivery guy...

Even if we put these issues aside, "Reverse Life" cannot be called an outstanding movie.All of its plot advancements are basically too deliberate。

For example, once the protagonist Xu Zheng lost his job, all kinds of problems came one after another.His parents were sick, his children were admitted to aristocratic schools, and money was needed for all aspects. These were problems that would not have existed if Xu Zheng had not been unemployed, but as soon as he became unemployed, his financial crisis became so severe that it was hard not to say that it was intentional.

What is even more surprising is that there are 3 or 4 car accidents of varying sizes in the movie.Xu Zheng himself was hit by a truck twice，It was just a little blood., nothing else.

Especially Xu Zheng's last car accident,Got hit by a truck, there was just a little bleeding on his forehead, and he stood up on the spot and continued to deliver the takeaway. It was really hard to believe, what kind of delivery man is he?

To put it bluntly, movies can give voice to disadvantaged groups, which is worthy of encouragement, but we not only need a movie that can reflect the suffering of food deliverymen,We need a film that reveals the root of the contradictions, pointing out "why people lose their jobs in middle age" and "why the life of a deliveryman is so hard"movie of.

It's a pity that "Reverse Life" only completed the first half of the answer. It can focus the camera on the delivery man, which is good.But it would be better if it could be shot a little deeper.。

In general, I think that the criticisms of "Backdraft" before its release are basically fine, and it indeed failed to show many problems.

If you were thinking of seeing this movie, don't go.

Why not give a chicken drumstick to the drivers who are still delivering food in 40°C when ordering takeout?, I think it will be more meaningful.