Director and writer Gary Tang have constructed a very cliché ridden drama with obvious nods to shows like ER and Chicago Hope but what I didn't know before I sat down to watch Healing Hearts was that it basically is a pilot movie for the tv series that followed. That fact actually drags the movie down in parts. The main problem is that too much is going on at the same time and reportedly several unfinished plot elements were continued in the tv series. It probably was a concious choice to leave certain things open but in my opinion Gary should've focused only on a select few or even only the two main characters. Instead a whole slew of side characters comes and goes without much logic or meaning to us and most of these startplot element that is never expanded on. So actors like Melvin Wong, Esther Kwan and Stephen Fung basically makes quick cameos and that makes more or less 1/4 of the movie completely useless for us who will never get a chance to watch the tv series. Also in the beginning of Healing Hearts I got a feeling that the movie had been going on for about 20 minutes already since we are almost in the story from minute one. The director should've let the movie be it's own episode and finished up things more properly.

Gary's direction is a little stiff but I have a feeling he may have a background in tv so that trait is not surprising coming from the small screen. That fact doesn't make the direction sub standard though. If a small love story is told in a movie I want to see and notice what the characters are doing, not the director. That's exactly what Gary does, he places the camera in a simple way and rarely moves around too much during the dialogue scenes for example. His script is a pure cliché-city and focuses on the obvious things like the doctor's everyday relationship to their patients and also their troubled lives outside of the hospital environment. He still manages to strike a weird balance between handling the clichés in a painfully bad way and in other moments, thanks to some fine acting, make well known material affects us more than we expect The latter aspect demands that the dialogue therefore is more interestingly written and performed. That happens when Gary chooses to focus all his energy into the love story between Lawrence and Jackie and it's in their scenes that the script delivers some both sweet and clever dialogue. It's not only the actors who makes average writing look and sound better but a very tender and sometimes humerous tone is present in there. The two characters are familiar ones from movies but they're made so much more interesting thanks to Tony and Michelle's acting.

If you ask someone to put together top 5 Hong Kong actor's list, I'll bet Tony Leung Chiu-Wai most definitly would be on it (he would probably end up being number 3 on mine). The man has the charisma and presence that very few Hong Kong actors are blessed with and he really does justice to the role of Lawrence. I'm sure that several actors could have pulled this role off in a good enough way but in the hands of Tony the character becomes as real as can be. He can say so much with his eyes and he never has to resort to tears or big emotional outbursts to convey the emotions inside of him. Lawrence is a bit of a quiet character but if we as an audience wants to get to know him, we will understand him and the things going on in his life.

By his side through large parts of the film we find one of many gorgeous looking Hong Kong actresses that have put in good performances lately. This time I'm talking about Michelle Reis who I've only seen with Jet Li in Fong Sai Yuk before. That was not an ideal film to judge acting performances so a lot of people probably don't strongly remember her from that film. When she first comes out of her coma Michelle plays Jackie in a slightly annoying way and I got worried that if it had gone on like that even this part of the movie would've been dead. It is when the relationship with Tony's character finds it's best flow that also Michelle pushes the charm button. With him Michelle finds a balance between a slight impulsiveness and a tenderness that needs to be there for the entire role to work. She has an infectious sense of humour and she brings both a nice smile to everyone's lips but also the latter part of the movie Michelle does quite well in the more sentimental scenes. Pleasantly surprising performance I have to say.

You can predict where things are headed with these two characters but if you have the right actors clichés stops being clichés and you just enjoy the chemistry between either the fictional people or the actor's playing them. It should be said that their story is nothing that will rival the greatness of Juliet In Love for example and one or two plot devices surrounding Lawrence and Jackie are again not fully finished and dealt with in my opinion. Among other actors I really liked the character of Paul played by Kenny Bee. While he doesn't rival Tony Leung he nicely brings forth some interesting traits of Paul's. He surprisingly doesn't protest against Lawrence and Jackie's growing friendship but instead he is basically only concerned for her health. It's nothing revolutionary but it's nice too see a character like that done a bit differently in a romantic story like this.

If you forget about the tv series and just focused on Healing Hearts as a movie, it would have trouble finding it's place on the cinema market. We're constantly bombarded with both dramas and comedies of this type but if you take a chance on this you'll find a fairly sweet romantic tale but with some huge weaknesses outside the foucs of that. You'll fell that you have seen this movie before but that's not always a negative thing.

From the very start, the movie's premise is an attack on the ol' heartstrings. Lawrence (Tony Leung) is a well-respected doctor, but the loss of his girlfriend in a traffic accident has left him a hollow person. His colleague, Paul, is in love with a beautiful comatose woman, Jackie (Michelle Reis). However, it's Lawrence that brings Jackie out of her coma. Before you know it, Jackie is staying with Lawrence until she can put her life back in order. Unfortunately, Jackie suffers from a life-threatening disorder that manages to pop up at the worst times.

Personally, I would take it as a warning when the plot sounds like your average "E.R." season finale. But that just barely scratches the surface of this movie's flaws. Much of the plot seems built upon sheer convenience. Lawrence just happens to be a heartbroken, yet brilliant surgeon. Jackie just happens to come out of a coma when Lawrence prays for her. Paul just happens to acquiesce when he realizes Jackie and Lawrence are growing closer together (no real romantic triangle here, folks, despite what you might read). I'd let such a fortuitous setup go by if there was a payoff, but "Healing Hearts" offers none. Well, it tries to offer a couple, but you'll never see them.

There are times when it feels like writer/director Tang wants to inject some drama into his movie. Unfortunately, he never followe through on any of them. There's a subplot about the reckless driver who killed Lawrence's girlfriend. He turns up every so often, Lawrence promises to track him down, and the movie's pace goes up a notch. But by the next scene, all is forgotten. And evidently, Lawrence isn't as brilliant a surgeon as everyone thinks he is. The relatives of a patient who died in his care promise to get even, but after a tense scene, they're never seen again. There's also a sidestory surrounding a shootout in the film's opening moments, and some legal repercussions surrounding the hospital's actions, but the characters involved just seem to come and go at Tang's whim.

And the romance... for a "romantic drama", there's very little romance or drama. One minute, the two are arguing over how to buy groceries and the next, they're making out on the couch (there's that convenience again). You do see some scenes of the two eating and walking together. But most of the couple's interaction centers around Jackie messing up Lawrence's structure, albeit empty life. Here, it feels like Tang is trying to pull off his own "Chungking Express", in which Leung plays another heartbroken man whose life is thrown into chaos by a cute, perky girl. Tang even tries his hand at "Chungking Express"'s visual style for a scene, but never again.

As for the acting, Tony Leung is completely wasted here. For the most of the movie, he looks completely bored, and it's easy to see why. Leung is one of the best actors in Asia; as "In The Mood For Love" showed, he's able to pull off incredibly deep, nuanced performances. But this movie never requires anything of the sort. And none of the other cast members really do anything spectacular (aside from Reis being cute and meddling).

Tang just has so many ideas that he doesn't know what to do with them all. The movie takes steps down many paths, from one subplot to the next, but none of them are ever developed. They're mere oddities, meant to pique your curiosity. Meanwhile, the drama of the central story is completely lost. Apparently, this was Tang's first directing and writing job, and it shows. It's amateurish, sloppy, and never really involving, despite its attempts to make you reach for the tissues. By the time the movie ends on its "heartwrenching" note, you'll probably be too bored or too annoyed to really care if everything worked out or not.

Tony Leung plays a dedicated Senior Brain Surgeon, Lawrence. One day while avoiding his boss, he hid in the ward of Jackie (Michelle Reis), a girl in coma, whom his buddy Paul (Kenny Bee) is secretly in love with. Miraculously, she wakes after Lawrence "spoke" to her. After she gets discharged, she meets Lawrence again while looking for lodgings. For Paul's sake, he puts her up at his place until she finds a job. Days passed and the 2 developed feelings for each other, but even when Jackie is about to move out, they did not disclose their love pangs. And as ordained, it is only when Jackie is diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor that the passion between the 2 of them erupted.

Well, I know, this does not sound very original, and in fact, most of the story plot does fall into the conspicuous template of how storylines go in typical Hong Kong commercial flicks. The way the movie was filmed, you would think that you are watching a TV drama serial, one that reminds you of the popular Hong Kong serial, Healing Hands aka Miao Shou Ren Xin (literally translated as Miraculous Hand Kind Heart) whose director is also Gary Tang (Deng Texi).

There are too many characters in the movie and too many sub-plots, it results in inadequate development in many characters, after all, the movie is only 11/2 hours after editing, unlike a drama serial. I believe that there are more to the movie than the final product we see in the cinema. The director tried to inquire into how people from different backgrounds handle the issue of death, integrity, truth and love. We can still catch traces of these in the seemingly do-not-add-to-the-plot scenes.

The cast is pure eye-candy. Tony looks real good in the movie, even though he appears short besides slender Michelle. He gave a satisfactory performance, not his best of course, of the steady and indulgent brain surgeon. Michelle looks positively exquisite, one problem though, she is not a suitable candidate to play Jackie who is more of a lively, optimistic and candid person who is somewhat of a busybody who likes to impose her views on others and make decisions for them. A better candidate would be someone along the line of Anita Yuen or Vicky Zhao. Michelle is too delicate. Regrettably, I would say that she is restricted by her image.

Except for Tony, Kenny and Michelle, the rest are effectively dispensable. Kristy Yang is reduced to a state worse than an extra, after editing, I believe. All throughout the film, she only appeared twice, each not lasting more than 2 seconds. A strong cast is not all-important in a movie, although it attracts more box offices. At the end of the day, a good movie still boils down to the basics: a captivating story plot, a good script and able artistes.

Wong Jing is the presenter and he is definitely not known for producing art films. If we look at the movie in a less fastidious manner, it is actually rather entertaining. Some parts of the script are pretty well written and thought provoking. The part about Michelle and Tony living together is entertaining and heart-warming and I thought that the ending, though overused, is still quite suitably handled. For a $5 ticket during the weekdays, I'll say that it is definitely worth a watch if you are just looking for entertainment, besides, it is a chance to catch your favourite stars in action. Let's put it this way, I did not regret spending time on it.