Goodbye Mr. Loser
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''Goodbye Mr. Loser'' () is a 2015 Chinese
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, and starring
Shen Teng Shen Teng (born 23 October 1979) is a Chinese comedian, actor and director. Biography Shen Teng was born in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, China in 1979. He attended the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art in 1999 and received a bachelor's degree ...
, Ma Li, Yin Zheng, Ai Lun, Wang Zhi, Tian Yu, Song Yang, Chang Yuan and Li Ping. The film is based on a play of the same name. It was released on September 30, 2015. Starring a cast of largely non-film comedians, the film became an enormous
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
in China and was fueled by explosive
word of mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...
. The film contains many references to Chinese popular culture in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including cameo appearances and depictions of well-known pop stars of that era. Some celebrities appear as themselves (including
Jay Chou Jay Chou ( zh, t=周杰倫, s=周杰伦, poj=Chiu Kia̍t-lûn, p=Zhōu Jiélún, first=t, w=Chou Chieh-lun; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality. Dubbed the " King ...
as a talent show contestant on The Voice, who performed a song Xia Luo had allegedly written, in reality one that Xia Luo had plagiarized from him), whilst others are depicted through stand-ins (for instance, Miss Na, who talent-spots Xia Luo in the new 1997 timeline).


Plot

Unemployed amateur musician Xia Luo attends the wedding of Qiu Ya, his high school crush. He overdrinks, makes an inebriated declaration of love to Qiu Ya, and angers his wife Ma Dongmei, who publicly shames him for being a poor provider and husband. After causing chaos as his wife pursues him through the wedding hall, Xia Luo locks himself into a bathroom at the wedding venue, flies into a rage of self-hatred and passes out, waking up in his teenage body in his middle-school classroom in 1997. Thinking he is in a dream, he impulsively beats up his condescending teacher, sets fire to the classroom, and kisses Qiu Ya, then jumps out a window to end the dream. But after waking up in hospital and realising he is still in 1997, Xia Luo is forced to make the best of things. Although Xia Luo appears his normal teenage self to everyone else in 1997, he retains all his memories of adult life, including around twenty years of as yet unwritten
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
— which he decides to present as his own work, to gain fame and to win the heart of Qiu Ya. Over the next twenty years he becomes a pop megastar in China, taking the place of other superstar singers from the original 1990s to 2000s timeline, including
ghostwriting A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
famous TV themes for pop radio, duetting with
Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...
at the
2008 Beijing Olympic The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
opening ceremony in place of Liu Huan and producing and judging for a popular music talent TV series (based on '' The Voice''). Having achieved all of his ambitions including marrying Qiu Ya, Xia Luo gradually realizes that he was destined to be with Ma Dongmei anyway — after he abandoned her in middle school in the new timeline, she nevertheless defended him from bullies and troublemakers and was forced into a simple life in a small apartment, eventually marrying Da Chun, one of Xia Luo's kindly but slow-witted classmates from 1997. As time goes on, Xia Luo gradually runs out songs from his original time to claim as his own, and his own written songs were criticized as lacking talent. He eventually announces his retirement and starts wasting his money on drugs and women. He also discovers Qiu Ya having an affair with another friend. Disappointed with how his life is turning out, Xia Luo makes a proposal to Da Chun, wanting to trade away all he owns in exchange for his wife, but the frustrated husband punches him into unconsciousness and he wakes up in a hospital bed, where it is discovered he is dying from AIDS. As Xia Luo's health deteriorates, Ma Dongmei sings a final love song to him in his hospital bed, revealing that it was always her favourite, even though he was serenading Qiu Ya with it in the classroom at the time (this song is also the only song Xia Luo truly wrote himself). At the moment of his death, Xia Luo awakes and finds himself back in the wedding venue bathroom where he realizes that Ma Dongmei is the true love of his life. He runs back into the room and embraces her, which he continues to do as they are both arrested and taken to the local police station. He resumes his normal life much as before but with a new devotion to Ma Dongmei.


Cast

*
Shen Teng Shen Teng (born 23 October 1979) is a Chinese comedian, actor and director. Biography Shen Teng was born in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, China in 1979. He attended the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art in 1999 and received a bachelor's degree ...
* Wang Zhi * Ma Li * Yin Zheng * Ai Lun * Tian Yu * Song Yang * Chang Yuan * Li Ping *
Lee Li-chun Lee Li-chun (; born 2 May 1952) is a Taiwanese actor and ''xiangsheng'' performer. Career Lee is known for his work on stage with , starring in ''Art'' alongside Chin Shih-chieh and Ku Pao-ming in 2003. In 2005, Lee took the lead role in Godot' ...
* Zhang Yiming


Reception


Box office

A massive
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
in China, the film has grossed in China. Combined with an overseas box office of , the film has grossed in total worldwide as of November 2015.


Soundtrack


References


External links

* * *{{Mtime, 218763 2015 films Chinese comedy films 2015 comedy films Chinese films based on plays Films set in 1997 Films set in 2008 Films set in 2015 Films about time travel Films directed by Fei Yan Films directed by Da-Mo Peng 2010s Mandarin-language films