The Best Is Yet to Come

Based on true events, The Best Is Yet to Come follows fledgling reporter Han Dong (White K) as he uncovers a story involving the trafficking of forged health certificates for Hepatitis B carriers. Filmmaker Wang Jing admittedly does a nice job of immediately drawing the viewer into the leisurely-paced proceedings, as The Best Is Yet to Come boasts an appealing opening stretch devoted predominantly to Dong’s hardscrabble day-to-day exploits – with, especially, the character’s tour of the newsroom (and printing press) at the newspaper for which he’ll be interning as exceedingly entertaining as one might’ve hoped. It’s clear, then, that the picture’s downfall is due to an exceedingly erratic second half that grows less and less interesting as time progresses – the aforementioned story that Dong uncovers is hardly as engrossing as Wang seems to believe, ultimately – and there’s little doubt, as well, that the narrative takes an oddball turn at around the one-hour mark from which it’s never able to fully recover. (The conclusion is fairly effective, at least.) The final result is a disappointingly half-baked endeavor that squanders a thoroughly promising first act, which is too bad, certainly, given the potentially searing nature of the movie’s real-life content.

** out of ****