Review: ‘Betting With Ghost,’ starring Nsut Hoài Linh, Tuán Trán, Diệp Bảo Ngọc and Lê Giang

December 18, 2024

by Carla Hay

Diệp Bảo Ngọc and Tuán Trán in “Betting With Ghost” (Photo courtesy of Bluebells Studios)

“Betting With Ghost”

Directed by Nguyễn Nhật Trung

Vietnamese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in Vietnam, the horror/comedy/drama film “Betting With Ghost” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A gambling addict, who bets in cockfighting and is heavily in debt, is visited by a ghost who wants him to help her find her long-lost child, and she entices him by promising to help him win gambling money.

Culture Audience: “Betting With Ghost” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and unique supernatural thrillers.

Nsut Hoài Linh in “Betting With Ghost” (Photo courtesy of Bluebells Studios)

“Betting With Ghost” starts out as a wacky horror comedy, but the tone drastically shifts to emotional drama in the last third of the movie. Twists and turns in the plot—as well as engaging performances—make this unique film a worthwhile watch. Having such a big shift in the story’s tone is usually to the detriment of a move, but the change in tone works well for “Betting With Ghost.”

Directed by Nguyễn Nhật Trung and written by Vo Nguyen Dan, “Betting With Ghost” takes place in an unnamed city in Vietnam. The movie begins by showing Tran Van Lanh (played by Tuán Trán), an unemployed gambling addict in mis mid-20s, talking on the phone with someone named Tam. This person is later revealed to be a wealthy gambler named Ong Tam (played by Nsu’t Cữu Châu), who is involved in the same cockfighting gambling activities where Lanh does his gambling.

Lanh’s next scene in the movie shows him being chased by three men, led by a thug named Alex (played by La Thành), who are yelling at Lanh to pay the money that he owes. It turns out that Lanh owes ₫30 million, which is about $1,179 in U.S. dollars. This debt becomes the reason why he makes certain decisions.

Lanh is able to escape from the three men by running into a graveyard and jumping into a shallow grave filled with recent rain water. Before he jumps in, he sees a headstone marked Le Thi Na (1974 – 1999) and the ghost of the woman whose name is on the headstone. At first, Lanh think he’s hallucinating when he sees the ghost of Na (played by Diệp Bảo Ngọc) at the graveyard.

Lanh goes home, where Lanh lives with his widowed father Tran Van Dao (played by Hoài Linh), who has been disappointed in how Lanh has been living his life. Alex and his sidekicks Robert (played by Hoàng Phi) and Thomas (played by Bình Hưng) show up at Lanh’s house and begin physically assaulting him outside. However, Dao and a neighbor named Miss Sau (played by Lê Giang) are able to fight off Alex, Thomas and Robert, who vow to come back to get the money that Lanh owes.

But later that night, Lanh sees Na again when she appears to him in his home. Her long hair covers her face, so he doesn’t get a good look at her. This ghostly sighting really scares Lanh, who asks Na: “Why are you haunting me? I haven’t done anything.” Na replies, “If you don’t help me, I’ll haunt you for life.”

Lanh is so afraid, he urinates on himself and says, “I won’t help you.” Na then causes a door to hit Lanh on the head, and he loses consciousness. When he wakes up, Na is gone but his father Dao is there. Lanh tells Dao about the ghost. Dao has not seen this ghost and begins to wonder if Lanh is intoxicated or mentally ill.

Lanh sees the ghost of Na a few more times when he is riding on a scooter. It leads to a comedic incident when the sight of the ghost causes Lanh to crash into a cop’s motorcycle twice. Lanh soon figures out that he’s the only person who can see this ghost. The ghost of Na finally reveals what she looks like underneath her long hair and tells Lanh why she wants his help: “Help me find my girl I haven’t seen in 25 years.”

A flashback shows that Na was a single mother who died in a hospital, shortly after giving birth to a child. Later in the movie, an earlier flashback shows that the father of Na’s child only wanted to her to keep the baby if the baby was going to be a boy. The father of the child cruelly dumped her when Na told him that the baby was going to be a girl, and she decided to keep the baby.

To entice Lanh to help her, Na tells him that she can help rig the cockfighting games that he uses to gamble so that he can get enough money to pay off his ₫30 million debt. At first Lanh wants to get ₫100 billion, but Na tells him that he can’t be greedy and will only help him get no more than the ₫30 million. She warns that if he expects her to provide more money, “I can’t secure your loved ones’ fate.”

Much of “Betting With Ghost” alternates between scenes of Na having an influence on Lanh’s gambling activities and scenes of Lanh helping Na investigate the mystery of what happened to her child. The movie takes an unexpected dark turn when Dao finds out a big secret that Lanh has been keeping from him that is not about Lanh’s gambling activities. This secret is the one of the reasons why the “Betting With Ghost” makes a tonal shift that has some unpredictability.

The principal cast members do an admirable job of juggling the comedy and drama in the movie. Nsut, Tuán and Diệp portray characters who are sometimes at odds with each other but Lanh develops a special bond with Na, while Lanh and his father have a deep love for each other that has been in recent turmoil because of Lanh’s personal problems. Lê’s supporting role in the movie as Miss Sau becomes apparent as soon as it’s revealed that Miss Sau is attracted to Dao.

Although the biggest plot twist in “Betting With Ghost” seems like it was dropped in the story for the sake of having another plot twist, the results are still effectively impactful. There are some tearjerking moments that viewers won’t really see coming. “Betting With Ghost” is by no means an award-worthy film, but it’s has a memorable story with much deeper meaning than what this movie appears to be about in its first impressions.

Bluebells Studios released “Betting With Ghost” in select U.S. cinemas on December 13, 2024. The movie was released in Vietnam on September 2, 2024.

Review: ‘Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry),’ starring Tuấn Trần, Trấn Thành and Ngân Chi

June 19, 2021

by Carla Hay

Ngân Chi, Tuấn Trần and Trấn Thành in “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” (Photo courtesy of 3388 Films)

“Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)”

Directed by Tran Thanh and Ngoc Dang Vu

Vietnamese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), Vietnam, the comedy/drama film “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)features an all-Asian cast representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A dysfunctional family has ups and downs as the family’s fortune ebbs and flows, and the family is affected by a paternity scandal.

Culture Audience: “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching a soap-opera-styled family story that has overly exaggerated acting and elements of broad comedy.

Cast members of “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” Pictured in back row, from left to right: Quốc Khánh, Lan Phương, Aquay and Lê Trang. Pictured in middle row, from left to right: La Thành, Hoàng Mèo, Trấn Thành, Ngọc Giàu and Bảo Phuc. Pictured in front row, from left to right: Tuấn Trần and Ngân Chi. (Photo courtesy of 3388 Films)

If you’re prone to get headaches from watching movies where most of the actors shout unnecessarily when they over-emote, then make sure that you have some aspirin nearby when watching “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry).” It’s a convoluted and frequently messy film that awkwardly tries to balance comedy and drama, with over-the-top acting that lowers the quality of what could have been a more interesting movie. The treacly sentimentality tacked on at the end of the story can’t erase the problematic scenes where women are treated as nuisances, in order to make sure that the male characters have the most importance in the story.

Directed by Tran Thanh and Ngoc Dang Vu and written by Ho Thuc An and Nhi Bui, “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” tells the story about a very dysfunctional family in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. (“Bố Già,” which means “The Godfather” in Vietnamese, is based on Tran Thanh’s web series of the same name.) Within this family are varying degrees of wealth, which cause feelings of insecurity and jealousy among the poor family members who live in the ghetto and the middle-class family members who have more comfortable lifestyles. During the course of the story, the family’s fortunes change, which affect the clan’s dynamics in how they treat each other and how they are viewed by the outside world.

The members of this bickering family are:

  • Ba Sang (played by Trấn Thành), the movie’s narrator, a divorced father who lost his fortune and is now heavily in debt.
  • Quấn (played by Tuấn Trần), Ba Sang’s son, who is a 23-year-old aspiring YouTube star.
  • Bu Tot (played by Ngân Chi), a 6-year-old girl who has been raised by Ba Sang, ever since he brought her home when she was a baby.
  • Hai Giàu (played by Ngọc Giàu), Ba Sang’s older sister, who sells gravestone plots and employs Ba Sang to help him pay off his debts.
  • Út Quý (played by La Thành), Hai Giàu’s alcoholic son who’s the “black sheep” of the family.
  • Bình Lợi (played by Quốc Khánh), Hai Giàu’s goofy younger son.
  • Tư Phú (played by Hoàng Mèo), Ba Sang’s younger brother who is generally passive unless he gets irritated by his nagging wife.
  • Thím Ánh (played by Lan Phương), also known as Ánh, who is Tư Phú’s overly critical, shrewish and very materialistic wife.

Another featured character in the movie is Cam Le (played by Lê Giang), a platonic friend of Ba Sang who might or might not have romantic feelings for him. Cam Le is often the calm voice of reason when Ba Sang and his family start feuding or acting unstable. And a woman named Truc Nhan (played by Minh Tu), who’s from Quấn’s past, resurfaces with news that shakes up the family.

Much of Ba Sang’s insecurity comes from feeling like a loser because he used to be a successful businessman, but he made a lot of bad choices, and now he’s drowning in debt. His financial problems also cost him his marriage. Ba Sang is living in a very poor neighborhood that he thinks is beneath the social class that he thinks he deserves.

Ba Sang’s alcoholic nephew Út Quý is a criminal who is in debt to some local gangsters. The movie has a subplot about these gangsters lurking around because they’re growing impatient with Út Quý being unable to repay the money that he owes. Út Quý’s drinking problem is so bad that he has the unsavory reputation of being the “town drunk.”

Ba Sang’s adult son Quấn still lives with Ba Sang, who is annoyed because he doesn’t think that Quấn’s YouTube channel is a practical way to make money. Ba Sang lectures Quấn to get a “real job,” but Quấn refuses to do anything else for work because he’s convinced that he will eventually get rich from being a YouTube star. The only person in the family whom Ba Sang doesn’t seem to get irritated with at some point or another is Bu Tot, who is an adorable and obedient child.

Because “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” is a soap-opera-styled movie, there’s a lot of twists and turns to the plot that include a paternity scandal and a health crisis where someone needs a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, the melodramatic tone to the story means that the actors tend to over-act in a way that’s not flattering to the movie. And there’s too much shouting of dialogue, as if some of the actors think that in order to convey strong emotions, you have to shout.

“Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” also has a problematic way of depicting domestic violence. In more than one scene, Tư Phú slaps his wife Ánh very hard on the face when they argue. But this type of abuse is brushed aside as nothing more than a man trying to control his wife when she gets too mouthy. When he slaps her, it’s in front of other members of the family who do nothing about this abuse. In one scene, Ba Sang says that Ánh deserves to be slapped for “running her mouth.”

As annoying as Ánh can be, no one deserves to have this type of abuse inflicted on them. Ánh isn’t even the most troublemaking member of the family. Ne’er-do-well drunkard Út Quý is the family’s biggest problem, but his destructive behavior is excused, with the implication being that because he’s a man, he’s allowed to get away with it. There’s a scene where Út Quý literally destroys a birthday party for his brother Bình Lợi, but Út Quý faces no real consequences.

In addition to the movie’s over-the-top acting, “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” falters by trying to cram in too much melodrama, which results in some of the more pivotal scenes being rushed. And many of the scenes that are intended to be comedic are just irritating, unless you consider it amusing to see a bunch of actors portraying family members who act like feuding chickens.

Some of the direction is downright sloppy. There’s a scene where the family has gathered inside an apartment, and the family member who owns the apartment goes inside a bedroom, and is surprised to see an estranged member of the family in the room. How did that person get in that room without anyone else knowing, when there’s only one door for the apartment? It’s never explained.

“Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” isn’t a terrible film, since it has some touching moments that are meant to be a sentimental message about how people should not take family members for granted. It takes this 128-minute movie a long time to get to that message toward the end of the film. Just be prepared to sit through a lot of tiresome human squawking along the way.

3388 Films released “Bố Già (Dad, I’m Sorry)” in U.S. cinemas on May 28, 2021. The movie was released in Vietnam on March 12, 2021.

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