Phew. For a minute there [read: after watching 20 Once Again (重返20岁)] I wondered if Chinese film makers actually understood the point of a “revisit your past” movie. Yes, I am relieved to say, some Chinese producers certainly understand the concept very well.
Goodbye Mr. Loser opened with a cleaver-wielding wife chasing her husband through a wedding reception. OK, movie, you have my attention. Don’t waste it. The would-be fillet, Xia Luo (Teng Shen), is a Luoser. His “friends” have told him as much, not that he couldn’t guess. He has shown up in a jacket he bought with the intention of returning after the event and has chosen this, the wedding of his high school dream girl, to get drunk and confess his eternal admiration. Oh, and check it out: his wife is part of the catering team. And after all of the guys round-robin dumped on him, well, that seemed good a time as any to embarrass the bride and ruin his marriage in one fell swoop.
After ducking in a bathroom and paying oral tribute to the porcelain God, he emerges into … his high school classroom, a decade (?) previous. Assuming he’s dreaming, Xia wastes no time – he clocks the teacher, locks lips with Qiuya (Zhi Wang), tells his future wife Dong Mei (Li Ma) to kiss off and jumps out an open third story window, breaking his arm in the process. I really appreciated this POV – you get to live your youth again in Red China, why beat about the communal bush?
The resolute jerkdom of Xia is a thing a beauty – he dismisses his doting future wife with disgusting determination, even thrusting a friend 
on her when she doesn’t leave him alone. Meanwhile, his stalking behavior hasn’t won over Qiuya, so instead he thieves a musical career from future stars – I’m hoping Chinese folks will eventually tell me if there is anything more to the songs he steals.
The whole point to all of this is for Mr. Loser to understand he is better off with Mei-ver the cleaver. And he is. Strange thing is that she … isn’t. It’s possible her alternative life was better than the one Xia has made with her, unless, of course, the ghost of zeroes past taught him how to get a job. There’s enough positive emotion in this film, however, to make me believe in the new Xia revue.
♪If I could turn back time
If I could live my way
I’d go back and woo the hot girl and we’d play
I don’t why I bothered with this life
I don’t why I made you my wife
Gonna change that all as soon as I can
With manipulation I can make her my man
I didn’t really mean to wed you
Now I need to see you go
I know I made you cry … I’m almost sorry♫
Not Rated, 104 Minutes
D: Da-Mo Peng, Fei Yan
W: Da-Mo Peng, Fei Yan
Genre: Do over
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Pessimists
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Materialists
♪ Parody inspired by “If I Could Turn Back Time”
