Pity for the billion dollar jade girl

The Vietnamese film "Love by mistake for a best friend" did not create a strong effect when it was released during the Lunar New Year. The acting of "billionaire beauty" Kaity Nguyen also could not help the film attract audiences.

Kaity Nguyen expected to return to the role in Love the wrong best friend – one of three Vietnamese films shown on Lunar New Year 2025, besides The Guardian Quartet and Billionaire Kiss .

Unfortunately, the “jade girl” of Vietnamese cinema could not break through as expected even though she still acted well. The work was not warmly received and the revenue did not explode. This is probably Kaity Nguyen’s biggest fall after many successful projects that had achieved “hundred billion” revenue before.

The shoulder shape is still familiar.

Love the wrong best friend by Nguyen Quang Dung and directed by Diep The Vinh, is the only remake film released in theaters this Tet season. Original work Friend Zone Produced in Thailand, it caused a stir when shown in Vietnam in 2019, earning more than 53 billion VND.

The film's script follows the original script closely. In the film, Kaity Nguyen plays Binh An, a girl with personality and intelligence but clumsy in love. The character has no idea that her best friend Bao Toan (Tran Ngoc Vang) has always had a secret crush on her but has not dared to say it for many years.

Kaity Nguyen and Tran Ngoc Vang play two best friends.

This is also Kaity Nguyen's most recent leading role since The Last Wife (2023) by Victor Nguyen. Previously, she played a supporting role in Prince of Bac Lieu (2024), the incarnation of the main character's younger sister played by Song Luan. Although she doesn't appear much, Kaity Nguyen's acting is still highly appreciated, and is a factor that helps the film have more highlights.

Unlike the previous two works, which were both set in the past, this time Kaity Nguyen returns with a familiar youthful, modern image. The challenge for the actress born in 1999 is to overcome the shadow of the original, while also changing to renew her own image.

But in reality, in the film she still cannot escape her familiar acting style, not bringing the necessary breakthrough to create a new mark for the character.

The role also has a bit of Linh Dan's familiar mischievousness in it. I'm not 18 yet (2017), adding a bit of Chau's personality in Papa's soul, daughter's skin (2018). Furthermore, those who have watched the original Thai version will certainly compare and easily realize that Kaity Nguyen's acting style is not too different from the original.

Therefore, Kaity Nguyen's return this time has not created as many surprises as her appearance in Blood Moon Party (2020) or The Last Wife (2023).

Kaity Nguyen has not had many breakthroughs in image and acting style.

Poor interaction with co-stars

Love the wrong best friend also marks the first time Kaity Nguyen collaborates with two co-stars Tran Ngoc Vang and Thanh Son. Both are talented actors with a lot of acting experience. However, Thanh Son mainly participates in a supporting role, so all the attention is focused on the two characters played by Kaity Nguyen - Tran Ngoc Vang.

Tran Ngoc Vang has many advantages in appearance, was born in 1998 and is only one year older than Kaity Nguyen, so both create a youthful feeling and are easy to get along with when combined on screen.

Unfortunately, the interactions between Kaity Nguyen and Tran Ngoc Vang are not really effective. Viewers have a hard time feeling the deep connection between the two, making the characters' long-time friendship unconvincing.

Besides the famous cast, behind Love the wrong best friend is a professional crew with a lot of experience, so the film also has a pretty big promotional strategy. However, the work did not create a very good effect when it was released.

The project faced fierce competition from two Vietnamese movies The Guardian Quartet (Directed by Tran Thanh) and Billionaire Kiss (Thu Trang). According to statistics of Box Office Vietnam (independent box office monitoring unit), the film is always behind its competitors in the Tet revenue race, currently unable to surpass the 10 billion VND mark.

The film's revenue has yet to surpass 10 billion VND.

In the original Friend Zone, The female lead role belongs to "Thai cinema's pearl" Baifern Pimchanok - famous for films such as Crazy Little Thing Called Love (2010), The Con-Heartist (2020), I Love You (2022)…

Kaity Nguyen herself is quite modest, thinking that she is only average and cannot reach the level of a "goddess" like Baifern Pimchanok.

Reality, Friend Zone is considered an important role, helping Pimchanok continue to flourish in her career. Meanwhile, Love the wrong best friend somewhat makes the audience hesitate. Some opinions say that the film drags Kaity Nguyen's career down, causing her to lose the title of "hundred billion actress", similar to Tuan Tran with his comeback in Claws last year

According to the crew, Kaity Nguyen not only plays the main role but also takes on the role of creative director, contributing to the process. build and shape the film's style. That partly shows the actress's dedication to the project.

However, perhaps Kaity needs to be more careful in choosing her next script and project to maintain her position.

Instead of staying in her comfort zone, she should look for more engaging and in-depth scripts to maximize her acting ability and renew her image so as not to disappoint the audience's trust.

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