The Story: Optometrist in her early 30's, Wu, decides that her life needs a change... and quick. She quits her job, cuts her hair, and takes out a personal add, embarking on her strange quest to settle down and find a mate. She meets a succession of oddballs, idiots, and perverts, routinely checks in with her feminist friend and gay professor, and phones her ex-boyfriends answering machine, leaving him long messages about her dating exploits. But, there is something between her and her ex, a secret, some catalyst that has led to her search, and until she deals with it, she may never be able to move on.

The Film: This 1998 Tiawanese comedy is a mixed affair, I guess a (tame) Sex in the City for the foreign film, arthouse crowd.

Basically the setup is very simple- the film is Wu going on a succession of dates, and in-between she either visits with her professor friend and discusses her need to find a mate, or we see her talking on the phone to her ex-boyfriends answering machine, lamenting over their breakup and telling him about her dates. As the reason behind her breakup with her ex is revealed in the final third of the film, the tone veers from its comedic side to a slightly more serious one, and we see why she has suddenly stopped her life in an effort to find a lifemate.

The Personals strength lies in the performances, with many of the dates having a very loose, natural, almost improvised feel, letting you really believe in the interaction and characters. Unfortunately the weirdo nature of the men becomes pretty cliched and unreal, a singles worst nightmare, that over the course of the films running time becomes tiresome. Just to give some examples, here are a few dates she has before she meets the one normal guy who answers her ad- A Shoe fetishist who brings a box of shoes for her to try on, A geeky businessman who's only leisure activities/hobbies are drinking and porno, A pimp recruiting girls, An actor playing the part of a painter, A voice over artist (who we never see- get it? ha' ha'), An almost catatonically shy writer who brings his mother to speak for him, and a personal defense (mace, stun gun,, and such) salesman more out to make a sale than find a wife, and the list goes on.

So, for me, when the film does finally broach a serious side, it feels conflicting to the broad over the top nature of the rest of the film. Overall, although the acting is all great, it is just a little uneven, going from over the top to serious in a heartbeat, making it a fair giggle, but unconvincing in its reality.

The DVD: First Run features present a good DVD. Pretty much a bare transfer of a fair/average film, worth a buy for fans or a rent for the curious. Picture- Widescreen. While there is some wear and tear on this modestly budgeted film, leading to some loss in sharpness and the occasional spot, it still shows adequate details and color. It's a pretty run of the mill, average transfer for a low key foreign film release. Sound- Dolby Digital 2.0 Vietnamese audio with default white English subtitles. No complaints, pretty good job, and has all the depth one would expect from such a film, but you wont be popping it in as a way to show off your sound system. Extras- 12 Chapters--- Bio for director Chen Kou-Fu--- and an About First Run Features info page.