Director: Da-Mo Peng & Fei Yan
Cast: Teng Shen, Vivian Sung, Lun Ai, Bei'er Bao, Morning Chang

I know that I am never going to win the lottery. That's because I haven't played it in many years, and I have no desire to give it another try anytime in the future. The reason for that is that in the words of a fictional character I once heard on TV say, "It's a tax on stupid people." True, there are definitely some stupid people who do win the lottery, and it's quite amazing to hear about how stupid most of them were afterwards, because there have been dozens of true life stories about lottery winners blowing through their newly possessed youth in a few years, or even a few months. What kind of stupidity makes them be so foolish with their money? One psychological theory that I once read claimed that weak minds can be affected by how much wealth a person has. If one of those weak-minded people has very little money, they usually spend very little, very little of the time. On the other hand, if a lot of money is then dropped on their laps, this incident changes the mind so that they think it's totally okay to spend a lot more, and more often. And it certainly doesn't help that these people aren't accustomed to managing a high amount of wealth or personal property - that can certainly hurt their chance for long term success. I know that I am fortunate enough that being born with the right kind of thinking towards spending and saving - or being conditioned through my life to have that thinking - that if somehow I was given a lot of money into my hands, I wouldn't have the desire to buy much. A new computer, a new 4K television, a 4K Blu-Ray player, and subscribing to a few more streaming services than what I have now would be all I need to be content. The rest I would put in the bank and there invest it in low risk ventures.

At the same time, I will admit there's a part of me that understands the desire of many people to have a lot of money and spend it on countless objects of pleasure. Also, I will admit that if I knew there would be no bad consequences to spending a lot of money, I just might do it. This idea of freely spending while not having to worry about it isn't a new idea by far. I'll give you an example of this that was though of over one hundred years ago. In 1902, a book by author George Barr McCutcheon was published, with the title Brewster's Millions. While you have probably not read the book, you may be familiar with the premise from the book thanks to the 1985 Hollywood film adaptation of the same name that starred Richard Pryor. That premise was that a down and out person suddenly was contacted by the executors of the estate of a long lost relative that bequeathed the loser a huge fortune - on the condition that in a certain amount of time the loser is able to spend (under the right conditions) a huge amount of money and have none of it in cash or assets once the time period is over. As you can see, that premise is enormously appealing - one has nothing to lose by blowing all that money, and there's a chance they may be rewarded by doing so. In fact, the premise of the novel is so appealing that, believe it or not, the novel has been to date adapted on film thirteen times. Seven of those times have been American versions, not just the 1985 Richard Pryor version (one lost version was even directed by Cecil B. DeMille). One version (Three On A Spree) was made in England. There have also been four versions over the years made in India, and one version that was made in Brazil.

It seems that the premise of the novel can be appreciated all over the world, though of course it certainly helps that since the novel has long been in the public domain, anybody anywhere can make their own cinematic version without having to pay for the rights. But at the same time, some versions have not been too careful about "the rules" that are given to the party who has to spend the money. For example, in my recollections of the Richard Pryor version, I think the Pryor character could have set up multiple temp hiring agencies to hire hundreds of thousands of people temporarily for easy and quick tasks, and giving them a fat hourly salary - soon his millions would be burned off completely. So you may understand that when I came across the newest film version - Hello Mr. Billionaire - I wondered if "the rules" would be written smarter. But I was also interested in the fact that the movie was Chinese - how would a communist system that frequently puts its People's Army finger in the domestic film industry deal with the idea of going wild in order to get rich? Also, the fact the credits of this version acknowledged getting some inspiration from the 1985 American movie version interested me as well. In this latest version of the old story, the down and out person is a Chinese man named Wang Duo Yu (Teng Shen), who in his life has bumbled from one failed job to another until his present job as an inept soccer goalie. His only support comes from Qiang Zhuang (Yiming Zhang), a fellow on his soccer team who is as inept as Wang. Following the formula of past renditions of the formula, Wang at his lowest point is contacted by representatives, lead by one Mr. Jin (Morning Chang), of a long lost relative, specifically his recently deceased great uncle. Continuing with the formula, Wang is told he is the heir to his great uncle's massive fortune, but he can't get his hands on all of it immediately. As past takes on this story have gone, it turns out he has to spend a certain amount of money (in this case, one billion yuan, or about 144 million US dollars) in thirty days with nothing left over if he wants to get a much bigger payday (in this case, a thirty-billion-yuan payday, or about 4.3 billion US dollars). There are the usual conditions set to prevent Wang from spending all of the money immediately - no presents, no charity, all funds to be spent legally, no possessions destroyed, plus a few others that also don't provide easy way outs (though gambling is not mentioned for some reason... but I have a strong suspicion gambling is illegal in mainland China.) One additional condition is that Wang is to be accompanied by a representative of the insurance firm, a woman named Xia Zhu (Vivian Sung), to keep track of Wang's spending. Wang immediately gets to work trying to spend all the money in time and under the conditions, but soon discovers it isn't as easy as he thought. At the same time, he slowly starts to get feelings towards Xia, but he's forbidden to tell her why he's blowing all of his money, so she thinks he's a foolish spendthrift. Can Wang ultimately get money and love?

If you have any knowledge about modern Chinese cinema, you'll probably know that not only does every Chinese movie nowadays starts off with a huge number of logos from various Chinese production companies (as this movie does), you'll also know that the Chinese government likes to keep a firm hand on the movies being made - which in many cases results in Chinese films often having an agenda decidedly pro-Chinese; for example, the Chinese military, Chinese government officials, the Chinese Coast Guard, Chinese rescue crews, and Chinese police officers are usually portrayed in a very grand and immaculate manner. Knowing this, I was curious to see what possible political agenda Hello Mr. Billionaire might have, especially since it was a movie that dealt with wealth; not exactly a popular subject with many die-hard communists. It may come as a surprise that there really isn't that much in this particular movie. Yes, the few fleeting western characters come across as kind of buffoons and/or snobs, there's one scene where main character Wang, as part of a wild scheme, appears on banners dressed as the all-American Uncle Sam (no translation of the Chinese text on the banners was given to confirm if it was anti-American jabbing or not... though I suspect it probably was), and there's a mention of many people who suddenly get great wealth end up committing suicide after foolishly spending it all. Also, there are several characters who, upon being handed a huge amount of money by Wang to provide services for him, go cuckoo and make asses of themselves for Wang's benefit. But actually, that's about all that might be considered propaganda. Even when stuff such as what I described happened, to some large degree it illustrates that in any society - communist, capitalistic, whatever - nobody is equal with everyone else. As a result, there will always be people who will do anything to get power or wealth of any kind in order to ensure their own comfort. Seeing this happen in a communist country like China is in fact a little assuring, because it shows that Chinese people deep down are pretty much alike as anyone elsewhere with their desires and beliefs. Any audience anywhere in the world will be able to identify with the core human behavior in Hello Mr. Billionaire, even if here it's often portrayed in a silly and slapstick manner.

The movie clearly is made so that foreign and Chinese audiences will hope that Wang will get his payday at the end, so the movie isn't discouraging the basic idea of people getting rich. Actually, the movie does throw in an additional message not seen in the 1985 American version, though it is a message I don't think anyone anywhere will disagree with: Make sure that you don't lose your soul because of your money. It's a good message, though it's not as clearly illustrated as you might think. We see Wang eventually loves Xia, but when his feelings of love come out, it really comes out of the blue; we don't really see the growth of their relationship before that point. Some of the other parts of the narrative also seem equally underbaked. The whole part of Wang learning he's the heir and what he must do is really rushed, and lacking detail. On the other hand, some parts of the narrative are really long and just seems to be padding despite the movie being almost two hours in length. There's a really lengthy subplot about Wang arranging for a big soccer tournament with his team with a hotshot professional soccer team, and in the end it does nothing important to the plot. It could very easily have been written out. Another problem I had with the narrative - though no fault of the filmmakers - is that there are a number of Chinese cultural references that went over my head. Some moments seem to be parodying Chinese movies or TV shows, and I didn't know anything about Chinese celebrities such as Leehom Wang and Lang Xianping, who play themselves in gag cameo appearances. One gag concerning Xia Zhu's name sounding like "blind pig" in Chinese doesn't work when told with English subtitles. As I said, it's not the filmmakers' fault - this movie was aimed at a Chinese audience. However, there is still a considerable amount of humor in the movie that can be appreciated by outsiders. Much of it is in the vein of broad Asian slapstick humor Hong Kong and Chinese movies have famously had for decades, but it is goofy fun at times. Some of the schemes Wang gets into to lose his money are amusingly devious. Even when the movie gets really silly with sights like a pompous and stern security guard suddenly pulling cartwheels when given mucho yuan by Wang, it can provoke chuckles.

There is definite fun to be found in Hello Mr. Billionaire, but it does seem at times the filmmakers were trying too hard to cram in all the ideas they concocted. As I suggested earlier, the almost two-hour running time is too long for this particular kind of plot, as well as several subplots (one involving two additional insurance agents looking after the late great uncle's trust) that could be easily removed. It's also strange that the movie spends a lot of time at first involving Wang's friend Qiang in the plot, but eventually runs out of things for him to do, and he quietly disappears before the end - just like with John Candy's character in the 1985 version, if I remember correctly. The movie's problems may have been a consequence of the movie having two directors, Da-Mo Peng and Fei Yan; too many cooks can often interfere with the quality of the broth, as you probably already know. All the same, Peng and Yan do manage in their collaboration to keep the movie relatively afloat from beginning to end despite its flaws. The movie definitely looks great, up to major Hollywood studio standards; it's professionally shot, well lit, has elaborate camerawork (including drone shots), and the interior sets and exteriors look lavish. There are some slick edits such as multiple images. Both directors manage to generate an amiable feeling to the story, so no particularly silly sequence goes on for too long (otherwise these goofy moments would quickly get annoying), while at the same time handling the more serious moments in a manner that don't get too serious; the slight touch of lightheartedness prevent boredom from setting in. On top of that, the narrative, as padded as it might be at times, moves along at a pretty zippy speed, making an extra assurance that the movie won't ever become tedious. In the end, Hello Mr. Billionaire isn't the greatest comedy ever made, whether you are Chinese or not Chinese, nor is it the most original. But there is always something about it, whether it be a new twist in the narrative, or even a genuinely funny gag, that make it a good movie night when you just want to sit back and observe some universal silliness without having to think too hard. There are times where everybody in the world, regardless of country of origin or political system, wants to have that kind of entertainment.

NOTE: My website host has informed me that, surprisingly, I have a number of readers from China. If any of them wish to provide me explanations for anything in the movie that confused me, or to provide any trivia or comments surrounding the movie, please feel free to email me.

(Posted March 14, 2026)