Master Cheng

CinemaSerf

Pak Hon Chu ("Cheng") and his young son "Niu Niu" (Lucas Hsuan) get off a bus in a rural Finnish town looking for a fellow called "Fongtron". None of the locals have ever heard of this chap, and they seem to be stranded. Luckily, local diner owner "Sirkka" (Anna-Maija Tuokko) has spare room. Now her diner is not exactly gourmet! Sausages and mash are the staple (only) thing on the menu. When a busload of Chinese tourists are stuck when their bus breaks down, she offers to feed them but they are less than impressed with the fayre. Enter "Cheng" who raids the local supermarket and manages to prepare a noodle dish that goes down a storm. The two start to realise that working together they can make a go of her diner and she can help him find his man. For me, the star is the rather recalcitrant young lad who is glued to his phone and bored witless most of the time. The relationship elements are all a bit predictable, as is the typically sad backstory that led the father and son to seek their erstwhile benefactor, but there are also some entertaining character parts from her local customers "Romppainen" (Kari Väänänen) and his sidekick "Vilppula" (Vesa-Matti Lori) who remind you just how brutal a sauna can be when there are branches involved. It has a warmth to it this, and is good fun.