Despite its decidedly generic cover and familiar premise, to pitch “Marriage Trap” as a simple romantic comedy would definitely be selling it short. Marking the debut of Mainland Chinese director Zhang Cheng, the writer of Ning Hao’s excellent “Crazy Stone”, the film is actually a surprisingly witty and cleverly plotted affair mixes in social commentary, farce and genuine emotion.

“Crazy Stone” and “Two Stupid Eggs” star Guo Tao takes the lead as Guo, a likeable though rather shabby wedding planner everyman, who never seems to find the time for a romance of his own. That all changes when he meets and falls in love with Xiao Tao (actress Tao Hong, also in “Sky Lover” and who had originally been set to play Guo Tao’s wife in “Crazy Stone”), who unfortunately turns out to be a heartless schemer, dedicated to swindling men out of their money. Guo persists in pursuing her, ruining her carefully laid plans, and so she decides to come clean and tell him about her nefarious ways. Strangely enough, this only seems to make him even keener, and he begs her to marry him despite her assurances that she will only try to cheat him too. As their courtship advances, hindered by her constant and frequently bizarre intrigues, Tao’s cold facade slowly begins to melt, though the question remains whether their love is genuine, or merely part of an even bigger money making plan.

At this point, viewers would be forgiven for thinking they could fill in the rest of the plot blindfolded, though thankfully Zhang Cheng proves himself to be equally talented at directing and writing, and he manages to pull a good number of tricks from up his sleeve. Although he does roll out a fair few clichés along the way, the film is pleasingly intelligent and benefits from a fresh and contemporary feel, with several effective twists upon the usual formula and a surprise ending that while not completely convincing does at least show an effort to try doing something a little different. By not always taking the easy route, and by steadfastly avoiding cheap melodrama throughout, Zhang manages to keep not only his characters, but more importantly their relationships interesting and believable. This is in part due to a pair of excellent performances from Guo Tao and Tao Hong, both of whom add considerable depth to their roles, especially Tao, whose unrepentant schemer remains difficult to like right through to the end, without ever being undermined by the usual kind of dramatic last act change of heart that tends to plague such films.

Sympathetic characters aside, the main reason the film works is the way that Zhang manages to strike a delicate balance between screwball whimsy and surprisingly biting social commentary. Although not really a satire as such, the film packs in plenty of wry observations about life and love in modern China, primarily exploring the all consuming obsession with money. Most of the jokes hit their mark, and as a result the film is lightly amusing throughout, though at the same time with a certain bitter edge which marks it as a cautionary tale of sorts. Wisely, the expected misunderstandings and coincidences are never pushed too far, and whilst silly in places, the film does come across as being grounded. Unsurprisingly, as a Mainland China production it does come with a moral message and lessons to be learned, though thankfully these are kept firmly in the background and are not forced down viewers’ throats.

This ensures that “Marriage Trap” remains unforced and pleasingly human, with Zhang showing himself to be one of the more interesting of the recent wave of Chinese genre filmmakers. Though unlikely to change viewers’ lives or be troubling end of year top ten lists, it stands as an enjoyable and entertaining comedy with enough intelligence and substance to push it ahead of the crowd.

Zhang Cheng (director) / Zhang Cheng (screenplay)
CAST: Tao Guo … Gore
Hong Tao … Peachy
Zhonghua Chen
Shu Hou
Hua Liu … Uncle Kon
Patrick Tang … Matthew