I feel like there’s a lot that I want to say about Oversize Love, but I honestly don’t really know how to put it into words to convey how I truly feel properly. That’s how complicated I feel about this movie. Because yeah, it’s quite complicated.
Oversize Love follows Lin Xiaoxi (Guan Xiaotong), an optimistic person who runs a successful photography studio and lives contentedly on an island. She has her best friend, Han Bing (Johnny Huang), who’s always been at her side since they met during their childhood and is pretty happy with her life, but she also struggles with losing weight each time she tries. At least, until the appearance of an idol, Huang Ke (Darren Chen), sparks her determination to lose weight once more. When she comes across a magic potion that will grant her any wish she wants, she jumps at the chance to take it and reinvents herself as Alice.
On the one hand, I did like the message of self-love and acceptance regardless of looks, and I especially like how it explores what kind of costs someone will go to get what they want. Xiaoxi’s potion certainly doesn’t come for free, and I like that there’s a magical element that takes inspiration from Alice in Wonderland woven into a contemporary setting.
Xiaoxi’s feelings and experiences when she meets her celebrity crush and wants to get his attention are relatable for a lot of people, and in a world where being slimmer is embraced and being fat is not something to be proud of, Oversize Love definitely showcases the insecurity Xiaoxi feels somewhat realistically. Additionally, it also showcases the double standards the entertainment industry has for females compared to their male counterparts at a surface level, but I won’t go into further detail since that’s a conversation for another day.
But personally, I feel like the execution just wasn’t it. The movie is categorized as a romantic fantasy comedy, which honestly doesn’t feel like 2 out of those 3 genres because:
- Outside of a very small portion of the movie, it wasn’t funny. Seriously. Maybe it’ll be funny to some people, but honestly, utilizing a fat person for comedic effect and for the purpose of the plot personally isn’t funny, nor is it okay. If the message is self-love and exploring the costs of what one will go to get what one wants, there are so many other ways to do it. This movie was not it.
- The chemistry was just… let’s say there was no chemistry between Alice/Xianxi and Huang Ke (or really, any of the characters). I do think this was intentional, though, as Huang Ke is introduced to us as someone who appears kind, but beneath his looks and public image, he’s actually a jerk and even a playboy. And let’s just say Darren Chen does pull that off pretty well (especially considering the F4 boys in Meteor Garden fall along those lines, even if Huaze Lei is the nicest of F4).
Despite the no chemistry whatsoever, the acting was by no means bad, but it also wasn’t so mind-blowingly amazing that I have to talk about Oversize Love everywhere and recommend it to everyone like I currently am with Love Between Fairy and Devil. I do think this comes down to the actors having the shorter end of the stick and working with the script they had, so one meh experience won’t deter me from any of their other works, either. Additionally, I truly don’t have much comparison since I’m not familiar with most of the cast except for Darren. And as much as I loved his performance in Meteor Garden, I don’t have much to say in terms of his acting growth since Huang Ke just feels like a similar role.
I really liked the friendship showcased between Xianxi and Han Bing; despite being somewhat shaky and having a rushed ending, they’re the most well-developed and had the most chemistry. Everyone else just kind of fell flat, but this may have been intentional if they wanted us to focus on their friendship on top of the self-acceptance message.
This is also likely a personal preference, but I feel like Oversize Love is kind of a poor title for this movie, considering the Chinese title is 月半爱丽丝, which is a literal translation to Half Moon Alice. But even then, while the Chinese title seems a tad better, it also doesn’t seem like the best title, I don’t know. Alice in the Moonlight, another title this is known as, does sound super cool, at least as a fantasy drama title.
Overall, I think this would’ve been a lot better off as a drama than a movie because there are quite a few moments that are introduced in the movie that could’ve been explored a lot further had this been a drama instead. The concept was there and by no means was this movie truly terrible, but the execution wasn’t the best way to go about the message they wanted to send, and it just isn’t very memorable or something I want to rewatch.
Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.
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I am sorry it was not better executed Sophia!