Free and Easy

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Free and Easy

2017

1h 39m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A devious traveling soap salesman sets up shop in a wintry Chinese suburb.

Dennis Harvey

Variety

Those who can roll with its measured pace and playfully nonsensical story will find the sum impact drolly diverting.

Jan 31, 2017

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Boyd van Hoeij

Hollywood Reporter

A former industrial town in northeastern China, now deserted and covered in snow, is the picturesque backdrop of the unexpectedly funny and dryly absurd Free and Easy, from Chinese director Geng Jun.

Jan 27, 2017

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Wendy Ide

Screen International

An offbeat, sidelong glance at Chinese society which combines a striking visual impact with underplayed, deadpan humour.

Jan 20, 2017

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

Offers a hilarious (although not of the "laughing out loud" kind) and very artistic view of the contemporary Chinese society.

Dec 25, 2019

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Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

It's not often that American audiences have the ability to view an artistic work simmering with such discontent and restless revolution from a country like China, and that's part of what makes Free and Easy so special.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 20, 2018

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Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Hammer to Nail

Dreary as its vision often appears, Free and Easy is gently funny in all the right places, showcasing an appealing cast and solid camera work.

Mar 2, 2018

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Audience Member

A damn good film, gorgeously shot and perfectly paced to convey a kind of somnambulistic dark reverie. I don't know enough about China to get exactly what it's getting at, but I suspect there's something about capitalism and social/environmental desolation to be ruminated on here.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Before this film began, a Sundance senior program director told us that humor is a universal language employed in spades by the director of Free and Easy. In reality, the comedic moments of this tepid, languid journey seemed almost out of place in the monoscape that dominated the film. A limited cast and desolate city-scape showed promise early on to deliver a metaphorical tour de force, highlighting the dangers of communism where perceived equality breed despotism and selfishness. Unfortunately, the clumsy pacing, uneven acting and stubbornly shapeless script negate any power the film may have had. This was a swing and miss.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Jun Geng

Director

Xu Gang

Gang Ge

Zhang Zhiyong

Yong Ge

Baohe Xue

Actor

Wang Xuxu

Actor

Jun Geng

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

A devious traveling soap salesman sets up shop in a wintry Chinese suburb.

Director: Jun Geng
Producer: Wang Zijian, Wang Xuebo
Screenwriter: Jun Geng, Liu Bing, Feng Yuhua
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 17, 2017
Runtime: 1h 39m

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