Shanghai Kiss

First of all, this is quite a touching story about a young man learning about himself and what drives him. One could easily see someone like Zach Braff playing the lead role and the movie does have a bit of the feel of Garden State with perhaps even sharper dialog. It would be a good movie without the added dimension of having the a realistic Asian-American male lead, Liam, brilliantly portrayed by Ken Leung. Liam has problems, but not the stereotypical Asian problem of shyness - he's has no problems picking up women of all races (though he prefers blondes) but can't seem to relate to any of them except a precocious teenager (wonderfully played by Hayden Panettiere of Heroes fame) who is off-limits.

He's forced to look deep into his roots when his grandmother whom he's never met leaves her house in Shanghai. The identity conflict that arise from being born in one country but raised in another is what I call the 1.5 generation problem. The first and second generation of immigrants identify with their country of birth, either the old country or the new one, but those of us that are in between are uniquely cognizant of both cultural pulls. It's not so bad in Canada where this is nearly the norm nowadays, but the monoculture in the US and the pressure to choose tribes puts a lot of stress on someone like Liam or I imagine, the writer, David Ren, who are both Asian and American and neither. This struggle is brought out sensitively, naturally and is touching without being overly sentimental or preachy.

I hope this film what Double Happiness and Sandra Oh did for female Asian-Americans (actually Canadian - she's from my home town) and acclimate Hollywood to a multi-faceted realistic male Asian lead. In any case, regardless of the political implications, this is just a good, enjoyable romantic comedy about a young man finding himself and well worth watching.

How can I begin to describe just how great this movie is? I mean, the movie is simply awesome! So I decided to make the list. Here it goes :

[1] The cast is absolutely amazing. Hayden Panettiere (who stars in the TV show Heroes as Claire Bennet) is absolutely stunning! Her eyes sparkle when she smiles and it surely will melt the audiences' hearts. Ken also does a great job in his acting. His smile is addictive and he is charming, not in the George Clooney kinda way, but more like in Justin Long. Oh ya, Kelly Hu also deliver top-notch acting. Credit to them all!

[2]The storyline is unique and refreshing: I gotta say that I have long to watch a movie that move away from clichés, predictable and forgettable storyline. The story touches my heart deeply it made me somewhat very close to the characters and I can almost feel their feelings, as if I am in their shoes. It is interwoven with many cute, witty moments, and also many sad and heartfelt moments.

[3] The scenery is breathtaking! Usually when I watch Hollywood movies with Shanghai scenes, I watched a filthy, smelly markets selling pork and rats, and people riding bicycles to go to their destinations. I mean, Shanghai is shown as a place that is forgotten by the fast-pace of the globalized world we live in today. However, in this movie, Shanghai is shown as a place with beautiful buildings and places of interests. It is such a refreshing sight.

[4] It is more than just a movie. It is about dilemma faced by many expatriates. They lead their lives away from their home country, and to come back into their hometown will definitely bring back many memories, both good and back. It will also makes one think about one's culture and roots. This movie did exactly this.

So a full score of 10 out of 10 for this movie. Gotta be top of the list to all movie-goers! :)

Bought and viewed this film. Rate it an 8.

Think Ken so resembles Billy in his speech. Quite the actor and look forward to more of his films.

Was put off to buy with the white girl dominant on the cover. Reviewed more and so happy with the purchase.

Caucasion with a 22.5 difference age Tianjin girl. In Canada more tolerant of others. Quite disturbing to have the white girl dominant on the cover while this is Ken's movie. Hollywood and America have far to go.

Thousand Pieces Of Gold is some other unappreciated gem.

Firstly, I liked this movie. I liked it for the fact that it explored a lot of ideas that I myself have seen and experienced. Yes I'm Asian, but that doesn't make me automatically like this movie. I took a step outside the confines of who played what role and looked at it from a spectator and movie goer experience, and I found that it was a very interesting movie. I think that if you look beyond the Asian element of this movie, it can be applied to anyone. This is a movie about finding oneself and coming to terms with oneself, and I think this movie does it very well.

Acting wise I think that everyone did very well. I've never seen Ken Leung in a non-action movie before so I'm glad that I'm able to see a different, more realistic, side of him.

All in all, this is a good movie to see. I would definitely say rent it if you would like to see it.

This movie wasn't what I was expecting at all when I sat down to watch it. It looks like they're marketing this as a light romantic comedy, which it is in a way: it's very very funny and romantic. But behind the comedy, there's layers of sadness that reminded me of Woody Allen at his best. Ken Leung's Liam might be the most complex character since Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Here's a guy who can't really emotionally connect to anything - his family, his Chinese heritage, women, maybe the world. All he really has is his friendship with a free-spirited girl named Adelaide (Hayden P) who tries hard to get him to emotionally open up. Except she's only 16 and he can't be with her anyway. His father (Lo Pan), who he blames for his mother's death, calls him one day and tells him that his grandmother left him a house in Shanghai. So he decides to go their to sell it and make some bank.

That's the basic set up, which is conventional enough, but what is intriguing is every decision Liam makes throughout the rest of the movie. He's impulsive, impetuous, and relies solely on Al Pacino/Scarface type gut instincts. Even though he intellectualizes throughout the film, it's as if he doesn't trust himself nor his conclusions.

For example, there's a scene towards the beginning where he's drinking with a buddy of his. His buddy points out a cute girl at the bar, and Liam completely blasts her, calling her fake. Then at last call, when he's lost his buzz and the emptiness and loneliness of life has crept in, he starts to talk to this girl, whom he takes home. Later, she's lying next to him, making small talk and a tear runs down his face. It seemed shocking to me at first, but after a moment I knew exactly why he has crying. The scene was handled very delicately and very few actors could've pulled it off. This is such an interesting character that you can watch him eat a meal for an hour and not get bored.

Hayden is cute and charming. Her character is a dichotomy of maturity and playfulness, often at the same time. There's a scene at the end with her that's almost heartbreaking. J D Moore is hilarious as a writer who's fascinated by the opposite sex. I guess the weak link here is Kelly Hu, who's perfectly satisfactory, but her performance lacks depth. Also, her Chinese accent seemed to go in and out at times.

The best part of the film is the dialogue, which I guess is the thing that made me compare this to Woody Allen.

The movie is not without flaws. As mentioned: Kelly Hu's performance, the subplot with Byron Mann's character at the end (I won't spoil it) seemed contrived, some stilted dialogue by the river (or where ever they were), the scene where they first meet is slightly unbelievable (Beverly Hills teenager taking the bus?) although their relationship was developed well.

I'd say this is love or hate type movie. You will love it if you liked: Lost in Translation, Garden State, old Woody flicks, Little Miss Sunshine and other quirky indie comedies like that. Few things in the plot may not be believable for some, but I doubt anyone would say this isn't entertaining.