A middling romantic drama that is made even more middling by the fact that it gives me strong Chungking Express vibes without the benefit of being Chungking Express. Without the strength of the acting, this would be a snoozer.
Dr. Lawrence Ching, a neurosurgeon, hasn’t been present in his life since the unexpected death of his girlfriend in a hit-and-run accident. His apartment is a snapshot of all she left behind (and continues to leave – every surface is stacked with the magazines that still come in her name,) and he struggles to connect with anyone. However, when a coma patient named Jackie finally wakes up, Lawrence winds up offering her a place to stay until she gets back on her feet, and the two begin to forge a connection.
Before I get into the Tony Leung Chiu-wai of it all, I want to mention that there are a bunch of supporting characters and side plots that I have a hard time keeping track of. I’m not familiar with most of the actors, which can make it difficult, but more than that, a lot of this has virtually no connection at all to the main story. I’ll admit that my attention waned whenever something was going on that didn’t involve Lawrence and/or Jackie.
Not that I was exactly riveted for those scenes, either. This movie wants to be a medical-romance-drama version of Chungking Express so badly it’s almost funny. Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays a quietly-depressed man after losing someone he loves (through death this time, not a breakup,) and his depression is written all over his apartment. Enter a beautiful woman full of life who literally sweeps the cobwebs out of his apartment and (metaphorically) his heart, restoring his faith in love. (To top things off, Valerie Chow, who played Cop 663’s ex-girlfriend in Chungking, has a supporting role in the film.) Yes, there are plenty of hospital scenes involved, and certain aspects play out differently. Yes, it’s technically not so different from virtually any Manic Pixie Dream Girl love story, but Leung’s presence and the stuff about the apartment, to me, just screams Chungking Express.
But in oh so many ways, this movie isn’t Chungking Express, not even a little. Chiefly, Jackie only sporadically feels like a character. Whereas Chungking’s Faye immediately draws you in and much of the storyline takes place from her perspective, Jackie is much more just a fixture of change in Lawrence’s life. Michelle Reis, who I loved as the Killer’s Agent in Fallen Angels, is delightful and charming in the role, but she isn’t given much depth to work with. I’d have liked to get more of Jackie’s point-of-view. Is her zest for life part of her usual personality, or is this reflective of a new attitude after waking up from a coma? As her just-a-few-days’ stay with Lawrence lengthens, is it all down to her desire to give him a new lease on life/her growing feelings for him, or is there more to it? Does she need to reevaluate what she really wants from her own life now that she’s woken up from the coma? There’s so much that could’ve been done with this character that’s wasted.
Lawrence, played by Leung, is a little better defined, although I still prefer his Chungking Express counterpart (oh, Cop 663.) He’s still functioning in that he performs the technical aspects of his job well and with dedication, and he has work friends that he spends time with, but the death of his girlfriend has all but hollowed him out. Colleagues at work notice that his bedside manner is lacking, and his home life is unhealthily trapped in a mournful past. Leung starts out very muted, and he does a nice job of slowly showing the changes in Lawrence as Jackie begins to influence his life.
And despite the tropes in the romance and Jackie’s overall characterization, Leung and Reis have a lot of chemistry together. Some of their scenes are cutesy while others are heartfelt, but either way, they always display strong sparks when they play off of one another. I’d say they make the film better than it is, even if the end result still isn’t great.
Recommend?
In General – Not necessarily. Just watch (or rewatch) Chungking Express and have a much better time.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai – A cautious maybe. While the material isn’t the best, I like the subtlety of this performance.
Warnings
Strong thematic elements (including suicide,) suggestiveness, language, drinking, brief violence, and medical scenes that might be tough on the squeamish.
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