| A romantic drama-comedy, marking Gordon Chan's debut and an unexpected one at that as he's more associated with guns and brawls than character-drama. Yet, that skill hasn't been totally buried as in later years we've seen the likes of Beast Cops deservedly clean up at the awards. His 1989 movie at the height of the yuppie boom does not necessarily exploit the current trend in favour of box-office returns but it's an important framework for the various crumbling's of characters, starting with the divorce of Leung Foon (Lawrence Cheng) and Ann (Carol Cheng). Their respective line of work have produced a sterile rapport and Chan along with several co-writers are totally honest when they say we all need these breakdown of walls to see clearly again. The Yuppie Fantasia is light, even funny at times, but Chan brings a level-headed direction to the film so that it doesn't stray. Some might call it boring but thanks to ideal performers (acting in synch sound to boot), the film breathes quite well and would've been a few notches better even if the voice-over by Lawrence Cheng's character had been dropped. The sequel Brief Encounter in Shinjuku followed in 1990. Also starring Cherie Chung, Sibelle Hu, Elizabeth Lee, Peter Lai and Manfred Wong. Alfred Cheung, Paul Chun and Kirk Wong make brief appearances. |
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