Jennifer (Chung) decides to leave Hong Kong and pursue higher education in New York to be closer to her aspiring husband, Vincent (Danny Bak-Keung Chan). She has arranged to stay with some distant family member including a relative Samuel (Chow), who pretends to be some sort of a big shot in America. But this so-called wonderful journey of visiting New York gets interrupted quite quickly. While Samuel may have been successful in business in Hong Kong, in New York, he works as a waiter who has a drinking habit and an addiction to gambling. He struggles to keep a single penny in his pocket and lives in an old and dusty building where Jennifer automatically relocates. Moreover, in the meantime, Vincent has already found himself a girlfriend with whom he has been dating and has thus turned into a fairly typical student with no money and few unfavorable wartime conditions.
In time, is it sufficient to simply spend time with Samuel, is it enough, or should one look out for ambition and financial stability as well in a partner? These are tough questions that Jennifer is forced to consider when she is beginning to warm up to Samuel’s effortless charm that saddles both her, and him.
For the first fourteen minutes we get a slice of fast-paced action as Jennifer is tossed into Manhattan life courtesy of Samuel, alongside a pranking, shouting Chaow who starts brawls with everyone around him, and who, throughout the film, exhibits a blend of comedy and intensity. To put it simply, the quintessential Jenfier of demi is not whom we expect he emerges to embody a bewildering figure of exuberance.
Chung and Chow worked together on several movies during the 1980s which helps Chung portray a couple who is eccentric in nature. But Chow’s performance certainly overshadowed the character played by Chung. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Kathleen and Wong provided a subpar performance as they were playing over the top roles which required very little range. Samuel’s character was too blunt; when it comes to one on role acting, the American cast was also more two-dimensional.
Even their romance takes shape in the sides of a “dinner for one” presentation; it was obvious from the get-go that both of them were not going to end up with each other while looking forward to enjoying the friendship. The Chinese restaurants do present a rigid and stark contrast to the kind of world that Samuel has lived in but the vice versa hasn’t been lined up, with Samuel appearing confused and awkward as some sort of a replacement.
Chow, at the height of his career, shows a great deal of humor, roguisms, charm, and aloofness. And it is he who carries the film. You will laugh at his haggard appearance, feel warm in his company when he flatters you, and get annoyed and even sad to some extent, regarding his shortcomings, which cames as a result of his acceptance of a lost opportunity.
Just like the films crafted around its location in the 80s, this is anything but dialed down, but at times tolerable as well for the most absurd of reasons. What would best suit a title cringe, is actually a great rom com in this film, seeing that the rom is left unrealized while the com set is set up nicely. Even then, this is Chow at his peak, though, not in the way you may think.
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