Detailing a story of not so assured behaviour, the plot is relatively simple as it's about the fairly tumultuous relationship between Jeannie (Cecilia Cheung) and Alan (Eason Chan). Meeting and teaming up (notice I didn't write anything about falling in love) after their respective relationships comes to an end, the titular twelve nights (taking place over 12 months) will come with grave tests of the complex kind as far as these things go. Because love and relationships at heart will always remain complex. Especially psychologically and Aubrey Lam takes a look at, among other things, the kind of feelings that go into destructive acts. Having a mysterious Nicholas Tse cameo open the film but setting up the story where multiple rejections take place on Christmas Day, it's a lot of crashing involved and title cards spell out philosophies of truth (be it when relationships are in some kind of cynical or happy stage).

Jeannie and Alan clearly come from acts where communication is constantly low. Her boyfriend Johnny (Ronald Cheng) she leaves based on hearsay and Alan really seems so bored out of his mind that he doesn't even bother explaining to his girlfriend (Nicola Cheung) a past connection with Jeannie. Why should Alan and Jeannie fit so well then? Well she has the belief in fate, no matter how odd and crooked the road is towards being together (she uses a rearview mirror as a sign of all this) and the duo seems to be rather playful in their particular dialogue towards each other...during the first nights. Yes, here they can call each other on their facial imperfections without consequence but as the counting of the nights turn repetitive, the characters are wearing themselves out. To the point where director Lam punishes the audience the hardest by planting us in the middle of a scene where Alan forces Jeannie to constantly change clothes for a social event. This is tedium in a relationship where apparently you have as your primary objective to throw out hurt, verbally in this case. Who's the least pro-active in this machinery then? Well, line is blurred by Lam but by having Alan look down upon the past low's of Jeannie that has lead to sex with strangers, it's a lazy finger-pointing gesture because as always, how much does the past really play a part in the current situation? The two represent like/hate and notions of them rather going through all this than to stay alone has classic psychology written all over it.

Which is why Lam's film is easy to relate to and hard to watch. Anyone who has been in an argument where talking points appear at that WAY TOO LATE point will nod their heads in shame and acknowledging our problem, as a civilization, of communicating is really Lam's quite fair success with Twelve Nights. Utilizing little style despite borrowing Johnnie To's regular DOP Cheng Siu-Keung, outside of some carefully framed static shots and quick fadeout's, there's little reason to notice the filmmaker tricks. Because what Lam correctly focuses on is hiring two pop stars that are the essence of being multi-performers as well. Cecilia and Eason are finely immersed and immerses themselves into the material that does require all kinds of awkward, clichéd, hurtful and emotional behaviour. But aside from one grating scene of Cheung crying her heart out, subdued and dedicated are tactics here, employed well.

Aubrey Lam's debut is otherwise a healthy but difficult start, preaching reboots in your life. Audience reactions are surely going to be hurled towards the screen, looking at the notions of fate and impulsive behaviour alone but it makes Twelve Nights engaging, minor cinema if anything. Don't expect to be enlightened or lightened up but sometimes you have to think through thoughts like that as well. Time will tell as we explore Aubrey Lam's films if she merely needed this movie to cleanse.

(1) Examples being James Yuen (The Wedding Days, Crazy N' The City) and Lee Chi-Ngai (Lost And Found).

The second problem with 12 Nights is the complete dearth of sympathetic characters. As appealing as Cecilia is, it's impossible to root for or care about her character because she is so willing to put up with what amounts to sustained emotional abuse by her dimwitted, neglectful boyfriend. 12 Nights is essentially about Alan treating Jeannie like shit for most of the film, and Jeannie taking it all in stride as if this Alan dude were the only eligible bachelor in Hong Kong. Compounding my disdain for the film was Jeannie's inexplicable willingness to sleep with Alan late in the film despite his palpable vileness. I longed for the film to shift gears, for Cecilia's character to drop this loser and get with either the flamboyant Nic Tse or the brooding Stephen Fung (both of whom make brief cameos).

Another of the film's flaws was an attempt to organize the story into twelve "chapters", with each chapter representing an evening in the lives of Alan and Jeannie. Days one to eight chronicle the budding romance of our leads but writer/director Aubrey Lam, obviously realizing 3/4 of the way through her film that she couldn't possibly tell these character's stories in twelve days, shamelessly cheats and fastforwards months into the future. A minor grievance, sure, but irritating nonetheless.

The plot is about basically about Jeannie (Cecilia Cheung) and the ups and downs of her love life. On a night out with her friends, she meets Alan (Eason Chan), whereby she proceeds to dump her boyfriend, Johnny for him and he returns the favor two weeks later by dumping his girlfriend, Clara for her.

Now, sounds like a very simple premise for a story, right? Well, it is, however, the story is segmented into the twelve most important nights of Jeannie and Alan's relationship (hence, the title of the movie), including the night they first met, the night they broke up and the other nights subsequently which makes for a quite refreshing way of telling a story. What is even more interesting is the way the movie explores the ambiguities and vagaries of love.

Take for example, a scene in the movie where Alan forces Jeannie to go through several changes of evening outfits before he is finally satisfied with the image she exudes. The question raised by Jeannie here is, "Is love for you (Alan) just a matter of how I look? What if I was dressed differently, would you still love me?" A relevant question, I feel, and one that is not easy to answer honestly by just anybody.

Now, don't get me wrong, okay, this is not one of those artistic or philosophical films. It's just an interesting one as we watch the combined factors of Cecilia's immaturity, fickleness and insecurities and Alan's insensitivity and stubbornness slowly undermining their relationship. The movie also offers several interesting philosophies about love like, "Love is like a disease, you're feel better once it's over." And somehow, the way the plot slowly pulls you into Alan and Cecilia's love lives makes Twelve Nights more than just your average maximum saccharine sweet love story.

Hmmm, considering that this is her first directorial debut of a feature film, director Aubrey Lam has done quite well here. The story moves along smoothly, the dialog is well-scripted and the skillful weaving of several light moments into the movie makes this at the very least an interesting watch. Cecilia Cheung has definitely improved on her skills as an actress with her commendable portrayal of an insecure and fickle-minded Jeannie. Whereas Eason Chan looks a bit stiff in his role but still manages to give a passable performance of the harassed boyfriend. Well, Twelve Nights is certainly not a bad watch and if you're in a relationship, just getting out of one or about to get into one, then by all means, go catch it!