qin fen (ge you) is a bachelor in his forties. deciding he'd like to settle down, he writes an honest, straight-forward ad on a personals website, looking for a wife. he then begins to meet a selection of women who are also looking for a husband. the only one who piques his interest is smiley (shu qi), but he soon realises that she is in love with a married man and her heart would never be in any relationship. still, their paths keep crossing and a relationship begins to develop...

feng xiaogang is an interesting character, with an interesting cinematic output. following 'a world without thieves' an unintentionally comedic drama, the much under-rated, hamlet inspired, 'the banquet' and the rather super, war and peace epic, 'the assembly', comes 'if you are the one'; another solid, mature slice of cinema.

the film is, in essence, a selection of scenes and conversations between the dry-humoured ge you and the jaded, emotionally damaged shu qi - both of whom are incredibly watchable. ge you has always been an amazing screen presence and shu qi has always been incredibly beautiful, which has occasionally masked the fact that she can act too; something she needs to do, and does, when pitted against ge you for over two hours. still, the film itself does not simply rest on the shoulders of its two charismatic leads. the narrative is very well constructed and the script is filled with humour and emotion.

very good...