【电影简介】

电影开始于80年代，成东青（黄晓明饰演），农村出身的土鳖，两次高考落败，眼看就要屈服于当农民的命运，他最后一搏，背下整本英文字典，从明眸变成近视眼，第三次试考，考上燕大；孟晓骏（邓超饰演），精英知识分子，强烈自信，内心认定自己永远是最优秀的那个。王阳（佟大为饰演），八十年代的浪漫派，样子俊朗，热爱文学，一生梦想是当个诗人。这样三个各走极端的人在燕大相遇，戏剧性的建立友谊，共同走过人生的变化。

三人跟八十年代莘莘学子一样，怀抱着一个美国梦。申请签证的结果是：两个成功，一个被拒。

孟晓骏成功留学美国，准备要一展抱负，却未料在美国根本找不着工作，助教任务只当了不久就辞去，只得在餐馆当侍应助理；理想与现实的冲击，让他重新去审视自己。

王阳签证成功，却因一个一见钟情的美国女孩放弃出国，贯彻其浪漫派个性；

成东青签证被拒，眼看两个好友出国完梦，他只有留在燕大任教，却又因在外私自授课，被校方发现，央求悔罪仍被除名，毫无余地的成为一个真正的“失败者”。一无所有的成东青，只有偷偷在肯德基办英语补习班，其独特的自嘲教学法，渐渐吸引了不少学生。这是命运的安排，亦是成就他人生中最成功的契机。

补习班渐成规模，成东青请王阳加入一起办补习班。同时，成东青邀请孟晓骏加盟，正式开办“新梦想”学校。三人凭借个人魅力，包括成东青的自嘲式幽默教学法，孟晓骏的美国经验和签证技巧，以及王阳的创新电影教学，让新梦想空前成功。

新梦想再扩规模，成东青被媒体和青年塑造成为留学教父，不由自控的散发着一股从土鳖蜕变成领导者的光芒，让孟晓骏看不过去，二人渐渐貌合神离，王阳左右做人难。

孟晓骏远走沈阳，三人的友情面临重重考验。然而时代却有着一幕又一幕的挑战，包括1999年南斯拉夫中国大使馆被北约军机轰炸、还有ETS美国普林斯出版社控告新梦想侵犯版权，又把三人再次凝聚起来，共同面对新梦想的困境。

【音频文本】

The film "American Dreams in China" is Hong Kong director Peter Chan's first attempt at a contemporary drama. Based on the story that he adopts, I guess he was going after David Finch and "The Social Network," but what he really delivered is a hollow story without a spirit.

Like Finch, Chan tells the success story of insignificant nobodies. In this case, it is about a Chinese teacher who became one of China's wealthiest men through his English-language tutorial centers. Apart from the title, the word "dream" is brought up several times in the movie, which is very much in line with Chan's obsession with the topic. But, two of the major characters in the story showed no dream at all. The onlyone who dreamt of going to the US couldn't produce a reasonable explanation for his eagerness, and at the end of the day he was disillusioned and had to return to China.

Rather than dreams, it seems to be a movie about friendship. The joint efforts of three friends bring success to their business, but once they've succeeded, difference of opinions sends them on separate ways.

Even on the topic of friendship, the movie failed to offer a complete story. For example, not enough is done to describe the establishment and development of their friendship, so when one of them leaves for the US, the eruption of emotion comes as a surprise to the audience.

One explanation for the weak story is perhaps the director has placed too much focus on reproducing what it looked like in the 1980s and years after that. In this respect, the movie is more efficient than anotherrecent Chinese movie "So Young." The images of deserted factory buildings and enamel cups almost immediately bring the audience back in time.

However, the elaborately-arranged setting is undermined by ineffective cinematography. My immediately impression of the movie is its shaky and stifling pictures, and I was very surprised to find out that they were actually filmed by Christopher Doyle. Maybe, like Peter Chan, he just wasn't used to filming contemporary dramas.

The last straw that broke the camel's back is the acting, or more specifically the dubbing. Actor Huang Xiaoming has always been ridiculed for his English pronunciation. His role as the owner of the English-language tutorial business gives his enemies even more ammunition. Honestly, I would be able to understand his lines without the Chinese subtitles.

So, all things add up, "American Dreams in China" appears to be a failed attempt, and deserves no more than four on a scale of one to 10.

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