Cinematically and culturally interesting, but ultimately left me bored and exasperated with the main character. I was really pulling for him to do something or make some effort to change throughout the whole movie. Instead he just sank deeper into self-loathing and alienation. His love interest Mei-mei offered some respite, but it was not credible that a girl like that would have any interest in him.

What kept me interested was an honest (I presume) look at small town life in China, with very strong location cinematography on an obviously tight budget.