In her first foray into cinema, Thu Trang decided to choose the comedy/drama genre, which is popular during Tet. The film is humorous and light-hearted, but still clumsy and difficult to convince picky audiences.
Thu Trang can be considered to have built an impressive acting career. After more than 10 years working in the film industry, she has had nearly 20 works, of which 4 films have achieved revenue of hundreds of billions.
However, throughout the above mentioned period, the actress has always shown that her ambition does not stop in front of the camera. Besides acting, she is also known as a notable producer in the market.
And by 2025, Thu Trang will continue to put herself into a new role, taking another step forward in her ambition to become the next Tran Thanh/Ly Hai, as she shared in an interview with Knowledge - Znews . However, when taking charge of a film project and being called a female director, Thu Trang still has some clumsiness.
Funny, light-hearted but awkward
Thu Trang's first brainchild is in the comedy/psychological genre, named Billionaire Kiss . As the name suggests, the film revolves around a bet between two rich young men. Whoever gets Thuy Van's (Thien An) kiss will be the winner, thereby winning a large sum of money.
Thuy Van is a girl with a strong passion for bread, dreaming of going to France to learn how to make bread. She lost her parents early, the only relative left is her older sister Thuy Kieu (Thu Trang). Both live in a house left by their mother. While Thuy Van opens a bakery to make a living, her older sister works as a staff at a golf course, through which she has the opportunity to meet rich men.
One day, Thuy Kieu was cheated out of a large sum of money by her lover, forcing the two sisters to sell their house to pay off the debt. Not wanting to lose the place of memory left by their mother, Thuy Van listened to her sister and embarked on a money-swindling scheme. The main targets were Quang (Le Xuan Tien) and Tu (Ma Ran Do) - rich young masters.
A girl sees love as a tool to make money; two guys have too much money and use it to play with love. But in the end, it is love that makes them deviate from their original goals.
In fact, Thu Trang's first brainchild is not only broad in terms of story and character, but the film's atmosphere is also a blend of many different genres. Although the comedy element is the focus, the "trump card" to conquer the audience, Billionaire Kiss also rich in romance and contains messages about family.
In addition, the humorous situations embedded throughout the film also create a pleasant atmosphere. This can be considered a smart move during Tet, as it helps the work reach many audiences, from families, couples, to those who seek a sense of joy when going to the cinema.
However, due to taking on too much, the story of Billionaire Kiss scattered through many different storylines, from which the details are also presented hastily, lacking the depth needed in a cinematic work.
Thuy Van, the central character of the film, is built on conflicts. She wants to study abroad but her family is poor; at the beginning of the film, she appears to be a person of dignity but is forced by circumstances to cheat others of their money and love; or she wants to be loved but is afraid because she has witnessed the pain of the women around her. However, all of these conflicts are told in a few quick lines.
Instead of giving Thuy Van a complete character journey, the screenwriters of Billionaire Kiss spent a lot of time creating humorous situations, making the beauty queen's role bland and lacking a clear personality. It is easy to see that Thu Trang fell into the trap of being too greedy for details and forgetting about the maturity of the character's personality.
Even the supporting roles of Huynh Phuong and Tien Luat do not contribute to the development of the main plot. Although the pieces from this duo are quite charming, they do not create a connection with the plot, making their appearance simply to bring laughter and then disappear.
The script is old and cluttered.
In the beginning, Billionaire Kiss leading the audience into the film with two longtakes. On the one hand, this method quickly helps viewers visualize the entire setting where the characters live, on the other hand, it also impresses with the cinematic language, creating an initial rhythm for the film.
However, the above subtle handling almost disappears in the remaining duration. Instead, Thu Trang switches to speeding up the film's pace with scene cuts, continuously abusing background music in many segments - a common practice of web dramas.
Not to mention, the love relationship between the female lead and the two young masters is also superficially portrayed through montages (storytelling sequences combined with music and cutscenes) - a technique that is more about storytelling than helping the audience sympathize with the characters.
Besides, the script of Billionaire Kiss There are also many details that are staged and unrealistic. For example, Thuy Van accidentally meets Tu and Quang, then by chance, both of them get her contact information and are drawn into a love triangle. The important events of the film are all led by coincidence, making the story unconvincing.
The ending of the film is the highlight when Thu Trang created the form of "blind tearing", bringing a surprising experience to the audience. Thuy Van can choose to stay with Quang, love Tu or leave both.
However, the ending of the film still creates a feeling of incompleteness, beautifying reality. In the opening scene, Thuy Van is built as a passionate person, love affairs are not mentioned. But after the end of the journey, she is able to go to France without going through any challenges, instead having to face choices in love. The questions raised at the beginning of the film and the answers seem unsatisfactory, making the ending of the film disappointing.
In terms of acting, Thien An showed clear progress in her second time participating in a film project. Her previous role in The Prince of Bac Lieu not giving her much room to show off. But with In the billion-dollar kiss , the beauty queen was almost fully supported by her colleagues. Thuy Van, transformed by Thien An, exudes the calmness of an intelligent girl, but also has a natural, gentle demeanor, and is not tense in tense scenes.
Le Xuan Tien and Ma Ran Do are a bit weaker than their female co-stars. Both of them don't have much room to show off, and on the other hand, they haven't created chemistry with the female lead.
Thu Trang is the most prominent name when it comes to acting. The billion dollar kiss . Somewhere, the audience sees Thu Quynh's appearance in Blood Moon Party (2020) - one of the most notable roles in the actress's career. Playing Thuy Kieu, Thu Trang both shows humor and pushes emotions when the character faces her own mistakes and shortcomings.
Released at the same time as two works with Tran Thanh's involvement, Thu Trang's brainchild was still highly appreciated by experts, capable of competing with the trillion-dollar director. However, due to unfortunate clumsiness, that prospect seems increasingly unlikely.
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