“Au Revoir Taipei” is light hearted goodness

Every now and again, it’s really nice to just see a simple, fun movie.  Enter Au Revoir Taipei.

Kai has been left behind by his girlfriend Faye, who has departed from Taipei for a French education.  Kai still tries to keep in touch with her, pacing in his bedroom while leaving voicemails intermingled with the French phrases he’s learning.

These French lessons have had Kai spending a fair bit of time in the book store.  However, he’s completely oblivious to the shy advances of the shop girl Susie, and in his desperation to see Faye, he takes out a loan with the local gangster, Brother Bao.  Unfortunately, Kai isn’t too bright: unaware that the package Bao asks him to transport is probably illegal, he attracts a whole lot of heat.

Au Revoir Taipei is just a sweet, funny, entertaining movie that will appeal to the Pixar audience.  There’s a great jazzy score for chase scenes (reminiscent of Breathless and classic French comedies) that interact well with sight gags and simple comedy.  No complaints, no critiques.  Highly recommend.