Shanghai Calling

I like this movie. I don't love it, I don't hate, I don't regret watching it, but I don't really remember it until I watch it the next time. That's the best I can tell you, and I think that's unfortunate because with the stars in the movie, the location, the cinematography, and the score, it should have been so much more. But it's slightly above average and that's frustrating.

First off, the story is the movie's biggest fault. There's just so little stakes-- nobody is living or dying. It's just very inconvenient for all those involved. It draaaagggs the movie down so much because every time we are taken away from a character moment or a comedic scene to focus on the plot, the movie gets boring. Secondly, the movie foremost wants to be a travelogue that will get you to movie to Shanghai. Since it doesn't accomplish the first thing very well, it doesn't accomplish the second thing very well either. If they had just tried to tell a compelling story instead of forcefully hinting at the charm of Shanghai, maybe it would have been more effective.

So, why did I like it then? Everything else is pretty stellar. The comedy writing is great. There's a lot of lines ("DOES ANYBODY HERE UNDERSTAND THIS GUY?") that are funny and a lot of character interactions ("Pretty Chinese girl!") that land very well. Like I said, the cinematography is nice. Shanghai is beautiful and the landscape photography really makes it pop. THE ACTORS. Daniel Henney is so charming and likable even when he is doing bad, unethical things. Eliza and Zhu Zhu are great as the "love interests" and bring a lot out of the secondary characters. Bill Paxton is a step down from his best films, but he has some general charm too.

Whenever we're given a moment to sit with the characters, the movie lands. It's just a shame that the story is so subpar. I heard through the grapevine that the movie was at one time considered as TV show, and I think that would have been a way better option since having a compelling narrative would not be as important. Instead, it kinda just serves as a nice DVD that sits on my shelf for whenever some friends come over, and we don't wanna go out.

SHANGHAI CALLING may not light any fires of excitement in filmdom but it is a successful dual country effort to quash some misconceptions about China and the US and the news we hear daily. And if it were for that alone it would be worth an evening's outing, but graced by a really top notch cast of fresh actors not well known - yet - it becomes a tender little romp set in the spectacular beauty of Shanghai! The story is a predictable one:a young handsome Chinese American Lawyer (a very fine young actor hunk Daniel Henney) who was born in America and speaks no Chinese at all is sent by his major law firm in New York to gain access into the big business happening in Shanghai - home of the manufacturers who make everything used in this country it seems! Once in China he encounters Chinese customs of which he is ignorant, a language he does not understand, an ex-pat mayor of Americatown (Bill Paxton), a beautiful single mom (Eliza Coupe, another one to watch) who has moved to China to give her daughter a new life and is in charge of finding homes for new businessmen, a gorgeous assistant (Zhu Zhu)who falls for him, and a crazy ex-pat (Alan Ruck)who teaches English as a sideline to womanizing. When our young lawyer seems to fail at everything he intends to do he engages a fix-it guy humorously called Awesome Wang (Geng Le) and gradually our lawyer finds a new outlook on his cultural heritage, rights some wrongs, and falls in love.

Daniel Hsia directs and keeps the momentum going throughout film - even when relying on the ubiquitous chase scenes (here on bicycles). It is a fine introduction to coexistence between the new China and the somewhat backwards USA! Grady Harp

An amazing movie beautifully directed and even more effectively presented by all the actors. The story is in itself groundbreaking and plus the way of representing the story added more to the movie. A great for one time watch. A worth watching one for sure. You will not be disappointed.

I think that there is only one similar film "outsourced" which was made a few years ago. So this story is very unique. It also has some semi- famous actors in it, but the story is not exciting. It is almost predictable.

And there are a few obvious problems in it. When it was shot in the streets of shanghai, it was so apparent that lots of people were watching while it was filmed. It instantly makes the audiences realizing that they are watching a fake film.

Second, the restaurant scene was so awkward, not funny at all. Because when he stood up, you can see that the rest of the tables were almost empty. Some of the jokes are just plain simple cliché and not funny.

There are plenty of expatriates living in Shanghai or other cities in China, I think that maybe one of them can write a real story. And the male protagonist doesn't even have any Chinese blood in him.

The mediocre reception in the market and rather low rating were probably due to its modest promotion and difficult-to-target audiences. I highly recommend this movie for Chinese foreign students in America and American foreign students in China. Although the movie was designed to suite the taste of both American and Chinese audience, it leans more toward China elements than America. Moreover, it focuses more on the vitality and youth of modern China than the traditionally ancient elements that were usually used more to appeal to western audience. Therefore, if you are the kind of person who is interested in looking for exotic oriental girls and outlandish culture, this movie might not be your type. But if you are a person with open-mindedness and readiness to see new things springing up in a foreign and especially if you have experience of living in a foreign country, this movie is almost perfect.

There are three things that could be highlighted in this film: 1. Daniel Henney's groundbreaking performance 2. interracial relationship and immigrant personality 3. East vs. West; China vs. US.

The latter two could be simply summarized as follows: the reversal of stereotypes.

1. When was the last time you saw an Asian male actor with charming look and personality being casted as a major role in a American film? I bet you could not recollect anything. Daniel Henney is almost perfect- looking and he exactly fills this void. While he starred in Wolvering as the Agent-Zero before,a role who is cool but sinister, he could not break the spell of marginal Asian male actors in Hollywood and was given limited room for showing his acting skills. However, in this film, he is casted as the no.1 role and given tremendous opportunities to display his talent as an actor. He succeeds. Playing a professional business- men-like person wasn't a novel thing for Daniel Henney, he already got a similar role before in Seducing Mr. Perfect. While his performance in that movie relied more on his appearance, his performance in Shanghai Calling proved that he could also shine by his HUMOR. He is indeed very very funny in this film. For more information, refers to the "Tea Scene", "Noodle Scene", "Nanny Scene", etc. There were almost not a single scene in Shanghai Calling that was intended for Daniel Henney to act cool and prince-like as he did in Korean drama and film. Although there are occasional scenes and flashes of Daniel Henney's muscle and physique, they are scenes made more for the sake of development of plot or dramatizing the comedic elements of the film.

Reversal of Stereotypes: In this film, everything is overturned. there's no better way to discuss those sensitive subjects than a comedy film, mitigating offensive part of the topic through satirizing and sarcasm.

First, a charming Asian guy hooks up with a beautiful white girl. In this sense, I think no further due would be needed. But the singular elements of the interracial relationship is that a very Americanized Chinese guy gets to hook up with a very Chinesnized Caucasian girl. and it is also worth noting that Eliza and Daniel really succeed to build a chemistry between themselves and the romantic scenes is natural and unassuming.

Projecting this to a larger theme in this film, American turns into immigrant in China, and China becomes the host country of immigration. It is very interesting to see that cute little white girl refusing to speak English just in order to be integrated into the homogeneous Han Chinese social group in her school. It almost seems mirror the once poor Asian kids in a white-majority school who feels homesick and isolated.

While most of the holly-wood produced movies today tend to focus on the backward or traditional side of Chinese society, this movie put a very strong emphasis on the modern and western elements of China: Sky- scraper, dance pool, apartment, stream production in factory, the restaurant, etc. I am Chinese myself. Most of the Hollywood films about China look foreign to me, whereas the China depicted in this film is almost exactly the China I live in and I think is. The director, though a Chinese-American, does a great job understanding the modern China by his knowledge of modern Chinese culture and selection of Chinese actors. Karaoke (KTV),modern urban Chinese girls who are superficial and jealous, a crowded family living in Nong-Tang, effeminate but loyal and caring Chinese youngster, the taxi driver, and the Chinese Jazz music. That is the Shanghai I used to live.

the American humor might not be appealing to the Chinese audience;the modern and western China might not be interesting to American audience. The movie is perfect for anyone who ever have the experience of living i both countries and is the young and new generation. The movie deserves a lot of credit for its bringing of freshness and novelty.

What is bad about the Movie? The ending part of movie is rather brusque, and the law-suit case is rather childish-like.

Finally, the film conveys a universalistic message because the reversal of role in every sense simply means that every one is the same. Different outcomes simply depend on the specific context one are in, and different contexts would determine the kind of roles one would play.