SnoopyStyle
Liu Xing is recruited from China to work as a graduate student under his hero Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn). Reiser is famous for his model of physics. Liu Xing joins a group of Chinese students who work for Reiser with little pay. They scrounge for food but Liu Xing paints a pretty picture for his hard-working parents back home. Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep) is a rich benefactor for the Chinese students. Liu Xing falls for coffee girl Jackie (Taylor Schilling) but she doesn't feel the same. He starts to push for a different model than Reiser but he's rejected. As each failure piles up, he breaks down in a volatile way.I have two main problems with this movie. Firstly, this seems to suggest that China is a free source of third world mental labor. I don't think it works quite as well in the present day but it works better back in 1991. Second, the ending is such a different tone that it damages the movie. The movie desperately needs foreshadowing. Liu Xing needs to have a more complex personality. It's like the movie falls a cliff and there is no warning.
Bene Cumb
The main issue beyond the plot - dark matter, cosmology etc - are not interesting to me, but the scenes have smoothly combined and related human issues have been pleasantly highlighted (perhaps the ending comes too suddenly). When East meets West, then differences in thinking and linguistic difficulties are present and coping with them is not always easy for those involved and their circles. And like in many other areas, science is also full of intrigues and I am sure that many important inventions or explorations have been covered up or postponed. All the cast is good at least, but Liu Ye and Meryl Streep are both outperforming the others. Mrs Streep is definitely the greatest, the most versatile contemporary actress. Mr Ye was unknown to me, but I think he is worth remembering (hopefully Hollywood will not exploit him in B-range action movies).Recommendable to those fond of dramas based on real events, although I consider Hawking (2004) better.
uncdrose
At least I rented this movie through Redbox, which means I only lost a dollar on the rental. If anything, this movie made me realize what a vast cultural divide there is between Americans and people who come to our country. Liu Ye's entire focus was on coming up with such a phenomenal concept that he would win the Nobel Prize and give his parents great honor. He has no real perception of what a dissertation is supposed to be. He lives and thinks in clichés and is clueless about what is really important. The previews that I had seen of this movie were much better than the actual film. I am shocked that Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn were part of this production.
rlange-3
Better at being thought provoking than entertaining in the strict sense of the word, the core of this movie is the conflict between two brilliant men in a high stakes, high power academic setting. One is the Chinese student of modest means, Liu Xing, who comes to the US to study under Reiser, the brilliant American professor, who expects Xing to support his theory as a graduate student. When he doesn't, things go very badly.The acting is superb across the board. The scenic shots are good, and while the characters tend to exude excessive sentimentality at times, especially Streep, the often vicious nature of competition in academia is captured superbly.The simplistic viewpoint is that Liu Xing publishes an article attacking Reiser's theory through naiveté. More likely, he was less naive than conceited, and when he lost the game his ego fractured and he raised the stakes.There is good timing throughout, although at times it drags a bit it never really gets boring. One of the better movies to see.BTW: There is no math and no theory in the movie. This is about the people, not the theories involved.
AD
