Onion (Ren) is a resident at a home for those with special needs but, despite being blind and mute, doesn't allow his disabilities to hinder his enjoyment of life. Key to this is his close friendship with nurse Autumn (Cheung) who visits him daily and benefits from the inspiration that Onion provides. It is inevitable, though, that this friendship should turn into love and Onion is utterly devoted to his beautiful friend and plans to reveal his true feelings to her. Tragically, Onion is killed in a terrible accident and Autumn is left distraught, especially because her own feelings are beginning to be clarified. A freak coincidence gives Onion a remarkable chance to return to Earth, though, and he is allowed to spend a short period of time there free from his former ailments. However, there is a significant flaw in this otherwise wonderful opportunity: although he will look exactly the same, nobody will recognise him and he will be physically unable to tell anyone who he really is. On his return he immediately tries to spend time with Autumn, though his new identity does make this increasingly difficult. Onion also succumbs to the urge of telling Autumn who he really is, but finds that he is indeed incapable of doing. Nonetheless, his attempts to win the heart of the woman he loves under his new persona continues and those around him, particularly old friend Jumboball (Tsang), begin to notice something very familiar about this newcomer. As time runs out for Onion's brief return, Autumn gradually realises that the man she loved is the unusual stranger before her and that she must try to piece together the evidence that is there.

'Fly Me To Polaris' makes no excuses for its obvious emotional machinations and a storyline clearly designed to tug at the heart-strings. Nonetheless, however clear its intentions are, it manages to succeed with aplomb and turns the contrived into the magical. Therefore, what so easily could have been a series of cliches held together by its appealing stars proves to have enough style and substance to move even the hardest of hearts. It's success is perhaps due to the genuine warmth of the cast; the leading pair are excellent as the tragic lovers, but the supporting cast is also filled with actors effortlessly playing sympathetic characters. Director Jingle Ma - for years a noted cinematographer - uses his past experience to create some memorable visual potency and conjure up a moving atmosphere that cuts through the inherent weaknesses of the film.

The nature of this commercial hit and its intentions to target the emotions of its viewers means that it doesn't aspire to be high-brow art or a significant work of cinema. Critics have pointed to this as a weakness and some may argue that it's nods to Hollywood classic like 'A Matter Of Life And Death' are transparent to say the least. 'Fly Me To Polaris' has enough merits to shrug off these criticisms though and is a stark reminder of what is lacking from much of today's cinema - a film that is genuinely moving. With such modest objectives and a true power that reaches beyond its closing frames, this is a superior romantic movie that earns a strong recommendation for those prepared to shed a tear or two.

REVIEW:
If you want sappy romance, you have come to the right place. "Fly Me To Polaris" is a tear-jerker if there ever was one. In many ways, it could be faulted for being such a clichéd romance. On the other hand, it must be given credit for doing what it sets out to do so well. It may be clichéd, it may have some flaws, but it definitely hits harder than many other similar clichéd romance movies out there. It's not Oscar material, but a great viewing for the hopeless romantic in all of us.

"Fly Me To Polaris" lays on the sappy romance clichés thick. The first sound of the saxophone will immediately alert you to that. It certainly doesn't stop there when it comes to pulling those tears from your eyes. We've got major crying scenes, romantic diary entries, the whole nine yards. But, boy, does it do it all so well. Don't go thinking you're a tough guy (or girl). When you see Cecilia balling, it's futile to fight the tears (I had the difficult situation of trying to watch the film when other guys were around, I just had to keep it to a minimum so they didn't notice). This film just has all the right factors in place to succeed as a tear-jerker and better many similar efforts.

The characters themselves are one of the main reasons that the film can succeed. The viewer gets such a good vibe from both of the leads here. To see how Onion and Autumn act so happy when they are together really drives the relationship forward, making us care that much more that they didn't get to take the relationship further before he dies. This makes his struggle to let her know of his love, without being able to reveal his identity, that much more involving. Cecilia Cheung should also get a lot of credit for the success of this film herself. Without her overflowing personality and some key emotional scenes, the viewer would never be able to care enough about the relationsip. Richie Ren is solid, but not exceptional in his performance. I found his performance as the more happy "pre-death" Onion much more enjoyable than the frustrated Onion of the later part of the film. Still, he gets the job done overall.

Jingle Ma is at the helm of this one, and he should also get plenty of credit for how he handles this film. Many people may know him from films like "Tokyo Raiders" and "Hot War". While we don't see all the spiffy camera effects of those films here (aside from a little bit in one particular sequence), he definitely knows how to capture an image. More subtle examples are just those of how he frames scenes where Onion and Autumn are interacting. Less subtle are the awesome nighttime city images in the middle of the film. I have always thought that cinematographers turned directors tend to make very stylish films. Jingle Ma is the ultimate example of this.

Be prepared - "Fly Me To Polaris" is clichéd, tear-jerking romance all the way through. But, it is tear-jerking romance at some of its best. While the sheer volume of clichés and a couple acting issues hurt the film a bit, the characters and relationships, and its overall presentation really work in the film's favor. Most important, and the way that I was able to judge the film, is the emotional reaction it invokes. Even fighting with all my strength, I was barely able to keep the tears at a bare minimum. A movie that does that certainly deserves a look, especially when you consider that it takes a hell of a lot to get tears out of me.

This is a tearjerker movie that is handled with confidence. You side with the characters and anticipate their moves, dabbing your eyes with a hanky because you already know the ending. And even so, you want the relationship between Richie and Cecilia to resolve itself with hope and fulfillment. This is where the direction is so important. Yes, we know what will unfold, but we don't really care because Jingle Ma has done a wonderful job of making the characters live. The viewer in turn goes for the ride and relives the world as Richie does. When Richie returns to the living he can see, but as he moves, he uses his sense of touch and feels his way by habit. He walks through the ward and can recognize the nurses by the way they smell. Details like this make the film seem real and inviting.

Jingle Ma looks like he has a promising future as a director. "Fly Me to Polaris" could have fallen into the sappy trappings of yet another trite sob story, but Jingle was able to rise above the flaws in the script and fantasy elements of the material to work with the actors to project a sense of immediacy. This was Cecilia's follow up to the "King of Comedy," and she continues to demonstrate her ever-growing range as an actor. Have a box of tissues handy.