Movie Review: Hot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣)

I realize that my bad reviews get done much faster than my good ones. So if there's a current movie that you're wondering how I feel about because I haven't put up a review, just tell yourself that silence is golden. When I like a movie, I take much too long to write about it.

Like this oneHot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣)is the first feature-length film from Wing Shya and Tony Chan. It's also the first Chinese-language feature film from Fox.Hot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣) isa fun movie. It is a classic Valentine's movie, though I only saw it with friends. Still, I can see where it would make a good date movieany time of year.

It was a bit odd, I admit, watching it in February during a cold spell. But at the same time, it makes me glad it's not yet summer.

Then again, this week seems like it, huh?

An ensemble piece about love stories that are connected, often only by the tiniest of threads,Hot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣)is, right from the start, a nice lookingfilm. It's production value and 'look' are both very pleasing, and I think it will help the film on the international/festival stage.

It also doesn't hurt to have actors who are 'easy on the eyes,' as my mother says. Mostly young actors fill this ensemble movie, with space left for Jacky Cheung and Rene Liu, neither of whom are old but at the same time have a few years on their costars.

I admit, theirs was the story I related to most, because I am nearer their age than the rest of the cast.

I can relate to a man developing an affection for Rene Liu. I am relatedto that man. He lives in my mirror and shaves at the same time I do every day. But he is more China-friendly than me, since he harbors a deep desire to invade a part of Taiwan. Can you guess which part?

Jacky Cheung plays a single father, who struggles to raise his daughter, make ends meet, deal with being unceremoniously dumped by his wife, and maintain some sense of self-dignity in the midst of it all. Some of his jobs, however, make it very difficult:Sometimes, it sucks to be sucked.Most of the actors manage to be convincing and/or entertaining. I realize that may sound as if I'm being picky, but the simple truth is some people acted more, or better, than others. Everyone was okay, but some people were really good. Nicholas Tse turns in another strong performance that is in some ways similar to his recent role in Bodyguards and Assassins; an everyman who's just trying to get by, but is also very dependable, likable, and has a heart the size of China.

Nicholas deserves credit for being able (and willing) to act past being a pop idol. At the most basic level, he could simply show up, and on reputation (and appearance) alone fill seats and repudiate, if not nullify criticism. We see others do it too often, so it is refreshing to watch Nicholas really act. His roles so far this year show that he has made a lot of effort in his acting, in trying to behis character more than simply reading it's lines.

If nothing else, it's funny to watch him portray someone who is oblivious to the fact that he looks like he does. It's like watching Cherrie Ying (Cherrie Chan?) play a waitress. Waitresses don't look like that, because of they do, they're not waitresses very long.

If an air conditioning repairman looked like Nicholas Tse, he'd be rich. Because every woman in Hong Kong would demand his services.

Some would even want their air conditioning fixed.

Speaking of people too beautiful for their roles...

Angelababy (she's got to change her name, seriously) plays a young girl in small-town China who asks a lot of a young man she just met. Unsurprisingly, because it's a movie, and because she looks like her, he complies, to a degree. I thought [she] did a good job, though, as a friend who shall remain anonymouspointed out, the role should have been easy for her because she is in fact a young woman from a small town in China.

Who, because she looks like she does, no longer lives in that small town. See what I mean?Gordon Liu appears in a small role (though not as small as the one in True Legend), and again, probably because I am, how to say, getting further and further outside the demographic, I really enjoyed and empathized with his character.

Daniel Wu's role was rather small, and his character was one of great emotional reservation.

So he ends up looking a lot like Keanu Reeves, who couldn't emote if you set him on fire.

While Daniel did a good job, the result is someone who seems so remote and distant that the role itself is rather hard to remember. But that is a good thing within the context of the film. He was supposedto be wooden, remote, and indistinct. There are a lot of great cameos inHot Summer Daystoo, including Phat, Ghost Style, JBS, and Conroyof 24 Herbs.

Speaking of musicians, Eugene Pao and Eddie ' Doryuk' Chung deserve notice for helping make this film musically memorable, something that local cinema achieves only rarely, and even then, the memorable nature of the music is decidedly negative in character. It was a nice change to enjoy the music in a 'local' film, and I am grateful!

I've waited much too long to put this review up, and I could go on for a long time, but let me say that I really likedHot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣)because it did a lot of things right, it was entertaining, I never felt insulted, I enjoyed myself, and any flaws I may have found were, on average, outweighed by the strengths of the film.

Go seeHot Summer Days/(全城熱戀熱辣辣); I promise you'll be glad you did. I know I was.  I was also glad to see it because I got to watch Rene Liu sweat copiously, but that's probably not a mass-appeal selling point.