I surprisingly enjoyed Love In Space so I guess I’m really a sucker for breezy romantic ensemble dramas. Well, life is already complicated as it is, what’s the point of pushing myself to depression with ultra realistic ones?

Set in Beijing, Sydney and space (beat that), the movie is about a widow and her three daughters with their own quirks and personalities. Rene Liu is Rose the eldest, who is in space on a mission with her ex Michael, played by Aaron Kwok. The middle daughter is Lily, played by Gui Lun Mei, who has mysophobia (or germaphobia). She is studying art in Sydney, where she meets garbage collector Johnny played by Eason Chan. The youngest daughter is Peony (the daughters are all named after flowers), played by Angelababy, who has just been voted as the worst actress (China’s version of the Razzies?). Vowing to never get that award again, she prepares for her next role by working in a cafe where she meets Wen Fang, played by Jing Boran (who was also Angelababy’s leading man in Hot Summer Days).

The story constantly switches among the three locations plus the charming family house in China though it looks more like it’s somewhere in Europe. I love the ambiguity of it, it’s so… spacey. I haven’t really watched Aaron Kwok’s previous works but of the four so-called heavenly kings of Cantopop, I find him to be the type who takes himself so seriously (it must be that eternally gelled hair). Here, he’s goofy and in fact, the funny parts are courtesy of his character.

But what convinced me to ditch the Lin Chi-ling movie I was watching previously (where she plays twins as if one of her is already not bad enough) was the combo of Rene Liu and Gui Lun Mei (my girl crush). And I’m glad I did though to be honest, I thought LIS would end up with me wanting to tear my hair.

How true that the space scenes were shot at the International Space Station? I love the color treatment they did overall too, it gives a wispy, that word again…spacey kind of vibe.

Finally, I love the theme song, which has the cast singing a waltzy version of The Moon Represents My Heart. Special mention to the sound of laughter of Eason in the end.

Watch Love In Space on LeTV with English subtitles.

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