This Is Not What I Expected doesn't bring anything fresh to the “Cinderella rom-com” genre, but is entertaining enough for audiences to overlook its flaws.
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Do you like old school? Do you have a soft spot for Pretty Woman? Then you’re the right target demographic for This Is Not What I Expected, which doesn’t bring anything fresh to the “Cinderella rom-com” genre, but is entertaining enough for audiences to overlook its flaws.
Much of its charm comes from an impressive lead performance from Zhou Dong Yu, who manages to balance the comedic and emotional aspects of her character with great aplomb. The fact that she is accessibly attractive makes it easy for audiences to identify with and root for her, which is important as some of the more outlandish plot threads in the film require a significant suspension of disbelief. Takeshi Kaneshiro remains very easy on the eye, but his acting is mediocre as always, and he is far outclassed by Dong Yu.
The added element of cooking doesn’t really do anything to enhance the film except for multiple scenes of “food porn”, and even that falls a bit short - while there was initially some effort to go into the inspiration and “making of” behind each dish, they soon become mere window dressing, which is kind of a waste, since it is clear a lot of thought and effort went into the creation of these dishes. The film also needed somewhat tighter editing, as random scenes come out from nowhere and then disappear back into the aether, for example the out of nowhere romance between two supporting cast members, or the scene which features Takeshi’s character being interviewed by an online media network.
While there’s nothing particularly fresh about the movie, it does manage to check all the boxes that are required for a romantic comedy, from meet cute all the way to the denouement, and so it will work well as a crowd-pleasing diversion. What’s slightly different is that the leads are never physically intimate in any way, making this one of the most chaste and kid-friendly romantic comedies I have seen in quite some time. Still, this is a fluffy movie that makes no pretence about what it is, and while no one would remember this film in a few months at most, its old school charms will last at least till the end credits roll.
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