‘Have a Nice Day’ Film Review: Chinese Animated Noir Is a Wry, Cool Money Chase
Steeped in the realities of modern China, Liu Jian’s bleak pop thriller about a sought-after bag of cash is a gritty animated gem
Robert Abele | January 26, 2018 @ 12:57 PM
Last Updated: January 26, 2018 @ 1:11 PM
Strand Releasing
Nobody proffers a smiley face in Liu Jian’s animated neo-noir “Have a Nice Day”: they’re too busy worrying, scheming, or being assaulted. The pull of money can do that.
A deadpan crime story with eccentric and fantastical touches, and a healthy sense of the absurd, “Have a Nice Day” makes a bold argument for Chinese animation as a fertile outlet for exploring the country’s more desperate, constricted lives, and the choices these people make.
The set-up is like something the great caper farceur Donald E. Westlake would have conjured for a disparate constellation of characters: a bag of money that changes hands and brings out some keen and not-so-keen survival instincts in its various pursuers and guardians. But the tone is very much Liu’s own, a mix of realism and punky attitude, with a punishing greyness to the animation that gives the whole shebang the feeling of a cosmic joke.
Liu even opens with a bleakly insightful quote from Tolstoy’s “Resurrection” that describes a man-ravaged world where, nevertheless, “spring was spring.” Over an ominously shuffling piano-drum theme, Jian deals out a selection of milieus depicting a small southern Chinese town of tatty storefronts, forgotten streets, and general urban blight mixed with busy development. There’s a halting flatness to the animation, but the detail work is painterly in its attention to chipped walls, beat-up roads, and trashed passageways.
The frames are also hauntingly still; the only movement might be a flickering light or a trail of smoke from a cigarette or factory. The art-trained Liu, who is both a painter and a photographer, and who made his first hand-drawn feature “Piercing” entirely by himself, seems to have found a way to evoke both aesthetics in his images.
The first character we meet is construction site worker Xiao Zhang (voiced by Zhu Changlong) as he waits to drive a man with a travel tote full of bills. But en route with the precious cargo, Xiao pulls a knife and takes the money, leaving the bag man behind and a waiting gangster named Uncle Liu (Yang Siming) mighty unhappy. Uncle Liu doesn’t seem like the to-be-trifled-with sort either, since our first taste of him is overseeing the violent beating of a childhood pal-turned-artist, the whole time reminiscing about the pair’s youthful exploits.
While the gangster deploys a butcher-assassin named Skinny (Ma Xiaofeng) to find his stolen million yuan, Xiao checks into a railway hotel, then at a deserted Internet café contacts his girlfriend to let her know they now have the money to get her reconstructive plastic surgery in South Korea. Waiting to intercept him, however, is Yellow Eye (Cao Kou), who noticed the young man with the abundant cash earlier at a noodle shop, and decided this was divine intervention in the form of readily available startup money for his aspirations as an inventor.
But as the confrontations, thieving, re-thieving, mishaps and fortuitous accidents continue, Liu Jian makes it painfully clear that, for as many intersecting characters he can create in his coolly conceived thriller, the real protagonist is maybe an intangible mindset of economic despair in modern China: the dream for something better stunted by the cold reality of arbitrary luck and stumbling opportunity. (The bag of money, then, is hardly a MacGuffin, but maybe a kind of elusive, inanimate antagonist.)
In that respect, Liu’s grimly quirky chase-for-gold movie is of a piece with other financial-hardship crime films making their mark in China, from Lin Yang’s “Blind Shaft” to Jia Zhengke’s “A Touch of Sin” and Johnny Ma’s “Old Stone.” The construct may generate suspense, but the filmmaker’s careful remove almost demands a thoughtfulness about the world being lived in.
Some of the details in Liu’s dryly played narrative bear out the theme of the twin allures of materialism and commercialism: Westernized cultural touches like a Hollister T-shirt, new sneakers, a “Fast and Furious” poster, references to Steve Jobs and “The Godfather.”
There’s even a trippy reverie one character has in an elevator in which her dream to use the money to go to a resort called Shangri-La with her long-haired boyfriend is rendered as a candy-colored Karaoke video interlude in the style of Chinese Communist art. Another character, meanwhile, sees freedom as levels of shopping: farmers’ market versus supermarket versus online. And for that politically relevant touch, there’s a moment when Trump’s voice is heard on a radio.
The vectors of hope, fear and desperation ultimately must clash, though, and in a movie where left-for-dead doesn’t mean out of the picture, that means a conclusion not quite conclusive, but true to form for a pulpy yarn that takes place under portentous skies. It doesn’t give anything away to say there’s a dark sense of humor in giving the last word to a shot of a bag of money partly open, its bounty of pinkish, Mao-emblazoned 100-yuan notes being rained on.
“Have a Nice Day” may not be so nice, but it signifies a step forward for Chinese animation in filmmaker Liu Jian.
30 Highest Grossing Animated Movies of All Time Worldwide
A look at top animated moneymakers as of May 2020, from "The Lion King" to "Zootopia." The numbers are not adjusted for inflation.
30. "The Incredibles" (2004)
Worldwide Gross: $633,019,734
In 2004, Brad Bird's first Pixar outing wowed audiences with complicated animated action scenes, cross-generational comedy and superhero mayhem.
Pixar Animation Studios
29. "Sing" (2016)
Worldwide Gross: $634,151,679
Illumination's animal-karaoke musical crooned its way onto the list.
28. "Moana" (2016)
Worldwide Gross: $643,331,111
Disney's Hawaii-set movie scored two Oscar nominations, for Best Animated Feature and Lin-Manuel Miranda's song "How Far I'll Go."
Disney
27. "Big Hero 6" (2014)
Worldwide Gross: $657,818,612
Disney's 2014 robot tale combined anime aesthetics, superhero action and Pixar's heart.
Disney Animation Studios
26. "Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006)
Worldwide Gross: $660,940,780
Fox's 2006 prehistoric romp proved the success of the first was no fluke.
Twentieth Century Fox
25. "Kung Fu Panda 2" (2011)
Worldwide Gross: $665,692,281
With the franchise's skills proven, DreamWorks Animation gave the world another hit of comedy with this animated martial arts sequel in 2011.
Dreamworks Animation Studios
24. "Up" (2009)
Worldwide Gross: $735,099,082
The 2009 fan favorite demonstrated that original ideas with big emotions could make big money.
Pixar Animation Studios
23. "Monsters University" (2013)
Worldwide Gross: $744,229,437
Ten years after the release of "Monsters Inc," Pixar sent fans back to school in a 2013 prequel.
Pixar Animation Studios
22. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (2012)
Worldwide Gross: $746,921,274
DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar" series kept the studio afloat with a string of breezy successes, including 2012's third installment.
Dreamworks Animation Studios
21. "Shrek Forever After" (2010)
Worldwide Gross: $752,600,867
The big green ogre's final chapter dropped in 2010.
Dreamworks Animation Studio
20. "Shrek the Third" (2007)
Worldwide Gross: $798,958,162
Made in 2007, this sequel proved there was still some gas left in this fantasy mash-up comedy franchise.
Dreamworks Animation Studio
19. "Coco" (2017)
Worldwide Gross: $807,082,196
Directed by Lee Unkrich, this animated film captured everyone's hearts and even won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2018.
Disney/Pixar
18. "Inside Out" (2015)
Worldwide Gross: $857,611,174
Disney Pixar hit the home run again with this animated feature film about the emotions inside your head, starring Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader.
Disney/Pixar
17. "The Secret Life of Pets" (2016)
Worldwide Gross:$875,457,937
Universal/Illumination's story of dogs seeking out adventure while their owners are away charmed its way onto the list.
Profits abound for this 2012 fourth installment in the chilly prehistoric franchise, followed just behind it's predecessor.
Twentieth Century Fox Animation
15."Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (2009)
Worldwide Gross: $888,805,671
While other films have made bigger waves in the States, international sales have always returned big money for Fox's "Ice Age" franchise, proven again by the 2009 entry.
Twentieth Century Fox Animation
14. "Shrek 2" (2004)
Worldwide Gross: $919,838,758
DreamWorks Animation proved to be worthy Pixar competition with its successful "Shrek" franchise.
Dreamworks Animation Studio
13. "Finding Nemo" (2003)
Worldwide Gross: $940,335,536
"Finding Nemo" was something of a second-wind for Pixar, solidifying the company's place as the titans of modern animation.
Pixar Studios
12. "The Lion King" (1994)
Worldwide Gross: $968,483,777
Can you feel the love tonight for this Disney animated classic?
Disney Animation Studios
11. "Despicable Me 2" (2013)
Worldwide Gross: $970,761,885
Illumination's sequel managed to make more money than its predecessor and put the upcoming "Minions" spin-off into motion.
Illumination Studios
10. "Zootopia" (2016)
Worldwide Gross: $1,023,784,195
Disney charmed audiences in 2016 with its cop thriller pairing a rookie rabbit cop and a wily fox informant.
Disney
9. "Finding Dory" (2016)
Worldwide Gross: $1,028,570,889
The sequel to "Finding Nemo" swam right back into audience's hearts.
Pixar
8. "Despicable Me 3" (2017)
Worldwide Gross: $1,034,799,409
Illumination's follow-up -- featuring Gru's blond-haired brother -- became the franchise's biggest grosser.
7. "Toy Story 3" (2010)
Worldwide Gross: $1,066,969,703
Built on Pixar's critical and commercial goodwill, the third installment in the mega-franchise brought in big profits.
Pixar Studios
6. "Toy Story 4" (2019)
Worldwide Gross: $1,073,394,593
Nearly two decades after the last film, Woody and Buzz and the gang returned for the top-grossing film in the series (not adjusted for inflation, that is).
Disney
5. "Minions" (2015)
Worldwide Gross: $1,159,398,397
The little yellow helpers crossed the $1 billion mark at the end of August, raking in more money then "Despicable Me" and "Despicable Me 2" for Universal Pictures.
Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment
4. "Incredibles 2" (2018)
Worldwide Gross: $1,242,805,359
The superpowered family sprung back into action a full 14 years after the original -- but far surpassed the original film's box office haul.
Disney/Pixar
3. "Frozen" (2013)
Worldwide Gross: $1,276,480,335
Disney's 2013 smash-hit takes the box office top spot. And then there was merchandising, video on demand and home video that audiences just couldn't let go...
Disney Animation Studios
2. "Frozen II" (2019)
Worldwide Gross: $1,450,026,933
Though it failed to garner an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature, this sequel still managed to outgross its predecessor.
1. The Lion King (2019)
Worldwide Gross: $1,631,724,000
Whether the film is animated or live-action has been up for debate, the new "Lion King" was computer animated, so we're putting it on the list.
Disney
1 of 31
Cartoon characters that cleaned up at the global box office, from “The Lion King” to “Incredibles 2”
A look at top animated moneymakers as of May 2020, from "The Lion King" to "Zootopia." The numbers are not adjusted for inflation.