Uh, mildly disappointing?

First of all:
- This is not a professional review. I'm just speaking from my heart and of what little I know about films and filmmaking.
- This isn't a warning that says you'll be wasting your time to watch this film. Feel free to go ahead and watch. We can all find value in anything in our own way. I'm merely sharing how it went for me and what can be expected.

Basically my reaction throughout while watching this film was "LOL, wtf?!"

I honestly expected to see some hot romance between the two male characters mixed with drama, a bit of angst, action and thriller against a backdrop of crime and social issues after reading the plot on Wikipedia. I was curious how this mix turned out (with a bit more emphasis on the hot romance, LOL).

I'm not easy to disappoint. My standards and expectations are flexible, I try to adjust it from film to film. I try not to judge films too easily as I usually try to explain what I'm seeing as it unfolds.

Turns out, the hot romance was hot but not as hot as I expected. But I thought, "That's fine. I see it's not the focus of the film. Fair enough." And as I kept watching, it became apparent that the film's focus is on the dramatic side of the mix.

BUT I'm gonna have to agree with one of the other two reviewers at the time of writing this review: "overkill". Too much of something can ruin everything.

About half if not most of the drama just didn't feel necessary. This happened, and then another one happens, and so on. I see no point in the excessive drama. Were they trying to display how complicated, cruel and unfortunate life can be? Probably, sure, why not. Did it make the film enjoyable or satisfying to watch? Definitely not. It ruined the rest of the story that you could've otherwise appreciated.

Another word I can throw in here is: "predictable". At a certain point you can say, "Ah, anything can happen by now."

Also, it seems to me the screenplay of some scenes could've conveyed better the emotions alongside the subtleties of the dramatic turn of events throughout the film. Their impact wasn't as effective as they could've been.

Although if you ignore the storyline and screenplay, you can appreciate the artistic value of individual scenes especially with all that dramatic background music. And you gotta appreciate all the talent and hardwork the actors and actresses gave for their characters.

Summary:
Romance wasn't so hot (if this is what you're looking for). There wasn't much romance anyway and you can barely feel the romantic and sexual tension between the main characters (it's the storyline and screenplay, not the actors' fault). Main focus was drama, but the excessive drama was annoying and even quite funny (especially when you can predict what might happen next), it screwed things up.

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