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A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop

Play trailer Poster for A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop R Released Sep 3, 2010 1h 30m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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34% Tomatometer 59 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A visit by a Persian gun salesman sets off a series of fatal double-crosses involving a police deputy, a Chinese restaurateur, his adulterous wife, and a pair of inept employees.
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A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop

A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop

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Critics Consensus

Zhang Yimou's broad reinterpretation of the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple struggles to bring anything new to the twisty murder mystery and instead ladles on an excess of stilted comedy.

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Critics Reviews

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Jim Schembri The Age (Australia) There is certainly some curio value for cineastes here, but the real mystery is, well, what the heckfire was going through Zhang Yimou's once-brilliant mind when he decided to make this? Rated: 2/5 Nov 3, 2010 Full Review Tom Long Detroit News Heaven knows what inspired Zhang to undertake this nutty project, but the results are, at the least, amusing. Rated: B- Oct 22, 2010 Full Review Geoff Pevere Toronto Star A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop is a tipsy wedding of low hijinks and tiptoe-tense suspense stretches. Rated: 2/4 Oct 5, 2010 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com It is middling Yimou at best. Rated: 2.5/4.0 Sep 27, 2020 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...the movie, unlike the majority of contemporary remakes, stands on its own as an original and surprising piece of work. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 6, 2011 Full Review Jeffrey Chen ReelTalk Movie Reviews A valentine from one director to a famous team of others. Rated: 8/10 Feb 9, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member The worst dramedy in Chinese ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm surprised there are so many negative reviews of this movie. It is in fact a re-make a "Blood Simple," but where "Blue Simple" is a thriller with comedic undertones, this movie is a comedy with thriller undertones. I think some reviewers took issue with the cartoony manner of the presentation, but if you're up for the ride it's enjoyable. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member This surprising Chinese remake of the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple begins as a candy-coloured slapstick comedy and gradually turns darker (in tone). Yimou Zhang uses his pictorial skill to set the film in an artificial landscape in the distant past where at least they still have noodle shops, even if the cops run everywhere in formation with an odd sort of siren voiced by the wind. A greedy miser's young wife is having an affair with one of his employees and when he finds out, he hires a crooked cop to kill them both. However, greed wins over evil - or wait, love triumphs over evil and greed - or wait, no one stays dead - or wait, everyone dies in the end. It has been too long since I saw Blood Simple but I assume its twisty plot has been replicated here as a sort of fable that ends as a cosmic joke. I suspect the original is far better but this remake stands as a valiant effort to do something different with the material. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Slapstick comedy and thriller - this is very simple without much character development - short and sharp. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member This could have been an acceptable adaptation piece if it had let its ridiculous foolishness go. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member For the adventurous cinephiles among us! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop

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Cast & Crew

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Yimou Zhang

Director

Honglei Sun

Zhang

Xiao Shen-Yang

Li

Yan Ni

Wang's Wife

Ni Dahong

Wang

Cheng Ye

Zhao

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Movie Info

Synopsis A visit by a Persian gun salesman sets off a series of fatal double-crosses involving a police deputy, a Chinese restaurateur, his adulterous wife, and a pair of inept employees.
Director
Yimou Zhang
Producer
Weiping Zhang, William Kong, Gu Hao
Screenwriter
Xu Zhengchao, Shi Jianquan
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Beijing New Picture Film Co., Film Partner International
Rating
R (Some Violence)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 3, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 3, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$190.7K
Runtime
1h 30m
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