30+ Single on Sale (2011)

Country: Thai
Format: movie
Genre: romance
Cast: Chremarn Boonsayak, Arak Amornsupasiri, Sudarat Budtporm, Pijitra Siriwerapan, Dempan Yuwittaya
Synopsis: Ing is in her 30s and while waiting for her long-time boyfriend to pop the question, she gets a big surprise when she ends up not being the one walking down the aisle. A fortune-teller tells her that if she does not ind her true soulmate now, then she has to wait another 20 years. She decides to give dating a new try, but soon understands that dating in 30s is more difficult than in 20s and true soulmate is not easy thing to find. Or maybe her true soulmate is closer than she expects?
Rating: 3/5
With this movie I was in the "middle of not-expecting anything" and "having high expectation". That means that there were things that surprised me in a nice way and things that let me down a big time.

The main heroine is Ing who is successful photographer with her own studio. She is independent woman and has had a a relationship for 7 years, though most of the time her boyfriend has lived overseas. That also is the reason why their relationship is not what it used to be and why in one point of time her boyfriend started to have another woman, but has been too much of a coward to actually break up with Ing before the wedding date. I would say that in a way she even handles this kind of break up rather well and loses herself only for a moment. In the movie, it is also shown about how a lot of times at least one in the relationship has to make choices and give up on something important. It is how life is - you cannot have everything and never give up on something.
Mint is the man-eater. She kind of thinks that "true love" is over-rated and "something just for one night is good enough". She desperately falls heels over head in love with Jeet which makes everything more complicated for everyone. Luckily, she is a rather easy going person who barely bear any revenge or hatred.
In a matter of fact, I would have liked to see more about Yee and her crazy sudden love. I have been a fan of Tukki for a long time (ever since I saw "Crazy little thing called love"). Yee is a crazy activist who is fighting against big corporations to protect local heritage and culture. Her story is exactly how there is a small step between love and hatred. She ends up dating and marring a rich American, though she does not speak English and he does not speak Thai. Unfortunately, their story does not have much development and you can only enjoy their few moments together on the screen. Despite being the most successful in dating and in her achievements, between the three of them, she is the last one on the row - meaning she always gets to eat pizza pieces without toppings.
Our sweet fortune-teller Jeet has met a difficult life, but has not lost his smile and humor. By chance he becomes close friend of Ing and before he understandsit himself, he does not want to be just a friend to her. Whether Ing understands it or not, she is a woman who thinks more with her head than her heart. Jeet is earning money with selling barbecue and being a fortune-teller, in which no-one can be sure if he is true or just faking it. Whatever the case, he is amazing when it comes to read human characters and that might be the reason why on one moment he decides to let Ing go.
The last character worth mentioning is Tan. World-famous Thai photographer who has been Ing's idol for many years. In addition being someone to look up to as a professional, he is also extremely handsome and friendly. He started to give me a second lead syndrome as he really is a nice man. It is easier to dislike the second man than like him and know that he will lose the woman. At the same time you can see how Ing is different person around him and not her natural self as she is with Jeet. While it takes Ing a long time to understand it, what she thought to be her "dream man" might not be what she actually wants.
Unfortunately, there are not many highlights in the movie that would make you remember or feel squeeze while watching. I was annoyed, that the only connection to the movie title was about high heels being on sale and that "women even would buy 2 pairs of the same shoes so others would not buy them". I did not see any other connection and many scenes felt that they were put into the movie to fill screen-time.
There is another movie "Fabulous 30" that has a rather similar storyline: 30 years old woman getting dumped by her old time boyfriend and is looking for someone new. There was just one month between the releases of these two movies and a lot of people mistake them for each other. In fact, my sisters saw "30+ single on sale" first and advised me to watch it and I ended up watching "Fabulous 30" first, without knowing that it is not the movie they had been watching. Both movies are good time-fillers if you want to watch something easy.
I finish the review with the fact that this movie is written and directed by the same man who is the author of "Crazy Little thing called Love", but unfortunately this movie did not meet the the same success as the sweet youth romance.

SPOILER-review: I decided to come back to the thing that Jeet let Ing go and started dating Mint. As I said he could read people's characters rather well - meaning he was able to see that Tan actually was everything Ing had wanted from her perfect man while he had only little to offer to her. At the same time, Mint was basically okey with just his body. I know - this is not good and does not lead to anywhere, but it was pointless for him to chase after a woman who could not see him more than a friend. And sometimes giving more distance is all that is need to make the difference. As I said Mint is a easygoing person and she knew Jeet's feelings for Ing from the start. That's why it is very important for Ing to understand herself that her dream man cannot be a man who does not even remember his dog's names.