The sequel to a popular TV drama of 12 years ago, the new romance movie Eternal Moment swept cinemas across the nation shortly before Valentine's Day. It has already caused an immediate stir among Chinese in their 20s and 30s, posting box office earnings of 70 million yuan ($ 10.66 million) in only three days. But just imagine what would happen if the movie were released on a day that had no romantic connotation?

Of course, there we can't blame movie makers for releasing a romantic movie on Valentine's Day. But when stores are decorated with hearts and arrows, radio and TV shows talk about love and romance all day long, and love is in the air, it just seems unwise to give the movie a critical review that could spoil the atmosphere and do no good for your relationship. That said, a love story regarded as "OK" on a dating night could be one rung lower, to say the least, if watched on a different occasion.

Directed by Zhang Yibai, Eternal Moment starts from where the 20-episode teleplay ended and offers three distinctive stories after the college couple Wen Hui (performed by Xu Jinglei) and Yang Zheng (performed by Li Yapeng) leave school. The first act features the bland long-time marriage in an affluent Beijing family. The second reveals the luckless and bitter life of a single mother in Shanghai. And the last is about a reignited romance in Bordeaux, France. You may find out in the end that all these stories tell you, instead of what makes an eternal moment, just one simple theory claimed by Karl Marx that "the economic base determines the superstructure."

Each story bears a different style and flavor. The first is a bit surreal and art-house, while the second gets down to earth while the third is more of what you might see in a music video or a tourism promotion commercial. But the three-part movie fails to provoke thoughts on life and eternality and instead forces a sigh: what a contrast in life between the rich and the poor! With some interviews of real couples inserted in the fiction, the director seems to create a McDonald's Happy Meal: It can kill the hunger but can never be a good treat for your taste buds.

I am a firm believer that one of the least romantic days of the year is Valentine's Day. The majority of men act like robots, purchasing flowers and chocolate or taking their sweethearts to a Valentine's movie out of obligation.

On my one to 10 movie scale, I give Eternal Moment a cookie-cutter FIVE.

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