Audience Member
Okinawa Rendez-vous. A breezy romance drama from the early years of the 21st century. This is a film about unexpected love. It features a love-triangle between a mediocre but motivated cop, Dat (Tony Leung Ka-Fai), a gangster's mischievous girlfriend, Jenny (Faye Wong) and a thief and expert blackmailer, Jimmy (the late Leslie Cheung).
In Okinawa, Jimmy blackmails a gangster with a diary he steals from the police station. The gangster unwillingly prepares a huge sum of money, only for it to be stolen by his girlfriend Jenny, who runs away. Fate brings Jimmy and Jenny individually to Dat who is determined to arrest Jimmy whom he recognises immediately as an international robber. In the meantime, both guys fall in love with Jenny, while the gangster is looking for her all over Okinawa.
The premise is not a fresh one. What makes it interesting, however, is the collection of characters the film presents. This film boasts a treasure trove of interesting characters interconnected in different ways, which makes for multiple amusing encounters throughout the film. Each character is easily distinguishable by their quirks and personalities, making each of them memorable. Personas are humanised and made relatable, gangsters, thieves and cops alike, which definitely make for some good laughs.
A major problem which haunts the film though is the lack of depth into moments. The aforementioned amusing encounters are mostly wasted opportunities which could have been done better for not the lack of creativity at those moments. With only a few notable story-beats driving the plot, the characters and the steady pace are the only things holding the first half of the film. The light cheerful acoustic instrumental track does make up for the drowsy plot though.
Fortunately, in the latter half, the film manages finally to take off and brings the plot to an interesting place. However, things take a turn drastically in the final 10 minutes and the film spirals through a messy resolution. It's as if the director and the writer knew that the film was about to end and just started pairing everyone up into couples within that 10 minutes or so, which genuinely leaves you puzzled.
The actors' performance is good, and that is genuinely all that could be said about that, as not much space for performance was given to them. It is truly a pity as the cast is stellar and much more interesting chemistry could have been dug out from them.
One consolation for the film though is the songs. Sung by Leslie Cheung and Faye Wong respectively, "Without Love" and "New Tenant" are delightful and the scenes with those songs are gorgeous like those of a music video, which now brings me to the realisation that perhaps that's what the film actually is: a 90-minute long MV for the two incredible singers.
5.5/10
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
All about nothing... not even good in highlighting Okinawa's scenery, let alone the love stories. Nonetheless, big stars in a not so impressive movie.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Glamorous, but rather stupid. If I found myself charmed by the end of it, that's because the film learned to embrace its stupidity and I love Leslie Cheung. Still - it would have been better if it were smarter.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is one of a rare breed of films I call "Chill film". In a Chill Film, nothing of significance happens, and people walk around with seemingly no goal. It does not ponder philosophical ideas or explore new ways of telling a story. Because in most cases, there isn't a story. There is enough wit to be offbeat but not enough to be funny. There are hints of coming action but it never happens. It doesn't try to be artsy nor does it try to please the mainstream. It's just there, chillin.
I love Chill Films. Mainly because they are so rare, but also because it fills the gaps between all the genres. While all the action films, romance films and comedy films are fighting to surprise, to re-invent the wheel, the little Chill Film is there, drinking tequila and watching.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Light and refreshing as a summer breeze comes Gordon Chan's romcom-outfit Okinawa Rendez-vous from 2000, signalling the much-anticipated return of superstar Faye Wong on the big screen. Faye makes no particularly big deal out of it, though, but simply eases her way through this loose-fitting movie, as does the rest of this suberb cast, with Tony Leung Ka Fai making a rare comedic performance worthy of notice. Chan Hing Ka's script is competent and the direction suits the laid-back atmosphere, but this movie is really more about feeling than anything else.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/29/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A good romantic comedy reuniting two of the stars from "Chungking Express"
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
Full Review
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