In "Hot Summer Days" a hot summer heat wave engulfs the Chinese territory, while the movie covers the lives of various characters during that time. There's chaffeur Wah who tries to woo foot masseur Li Yan via text messages, air conditioner repairman Ah Wai interested in biker girl Ding Dong, a master sushi chef who spurns the love of writer Wasabi, country hick Da Fu who tries to impress teddy bear factory worker Xiao Qi Angela Baby by standing out in the hot noon sun for 100 days, & photographer Leslie Guan & assistant attempting to track down a woman who they believed cursed the photographer into blindness ...
Unlike the similarly multi-strand Valentine's Day, Hot Summer Days has heart, however overstated most of its action.
– Sheri Linden,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Oct 2010
fresh:
Sure, the film sometimes gets too syrupy - hey, it's a date movie - but the way this tale finally ties into one of the others is sublime.
– Neil Genzlinger,
New York Times,
1 Oct 2010
rotten:
Hot Summer Days makes a lukewarm case for global warming. It's a better argument that the production of mindless fluff is not just limited to Hollywood
– Lou Lumenick,
New York Post,
1 Oct 2010
rotten:
It's less a film than one long advertisement for itself -- and for the fact that mindless entertainment truly knows no borders.
– Eric Hynes,
Time Out New York,
29 Sep 2010
fresh:
While the film is slight, predictable, and familiar, it's great popcorn fare.