| |
DVD Review:
Shanghai Kiss, Ken Leung, Hayden Panettiere, and Kelly Hu
SHANGHAI KISS
Directed by: Kern Konwiser, David Ren
Writer: David Ren
Cast: Ken Leung, Hayden Panettiere, Kelly Hu, Joel Moore
Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment, Arctic Light Films
Runtime: 100 minutes
Normally, I regard any film with the distinction of being straight-to-DVD as being one notch above an Original Disney Channel Movie. This is mostly because films that end up going straight-to-DVD are either part of the American Pie franchise, or star Tara Reid. The only anomaly that I can recall is Bring It On: All or Nothing, which actually turned out to be quite enjoyable despite starring Solange Knowles and featuring people who have whole conversations in IM speak.
But I digress, because this isn’t about Bring It On: All or Nothing’s awesomeness, but about Shanghai Kiss, a straight-to-DVD effort from directors Kern Konwiser and David Ren. Shanghai Kiss is notable because it’s probably the only film in the world where the lead actor is Asian and doesn’t automatically feature subtitles, martial arts sequences, or DMX as someone’s urban sidekick.
The lucky Asian lead actor in this feature is Ken Leung (not to be mistaken for Jackie Chan, Jet Li, or John Cho; contrary to the popular Hollywood convention, they’re not the only Asian actors available for roles). Leung is a semi-familiar face, landing sizeable roles in Saw and X-Men: The Last Stand. He’s also appeared in over thirty projects, including Vanilla Sky, Red Dragon, “Law & Order,” and The Squid and the Whale. Although he’s chipped away at the Hollywood barrier, it’s safe to say that with billed roles like “Sam Wong the Deli Clerk” and “School Therapist,” Leung hasn’t had a chance to truly test his acting capabilities. (At least he hasn’t popped up as a technologist expert on a procedural television show…yet.)
Which brings us to Shanghai Kiss, a perfect vehicle for a young actor – regardless of background – to dive into deeper territories. Shanghai Kiss is a character drama in the same vein as Garden State, the 2004 vanity project helmed by Zach Braff. But unlike Garden State, this film feels more raw, less formulaic and affected. And unlike Garden State, Shanghai Kiss features a protagonist whose self-pity is only mildly aggravating, and he doesn’t spend copious amounts of time talking about feelings, staring at the wall, and making googly eyes at Natalie Portman.
The film focuses on Liam Liu (Leung), a struggling actor in Los Angeles. At an audition for a toothpaste commercial, Liam is pelted with questions about speaking Mandarin and knowing martial arts (all lies on his resume) before being dismissed without a reading. Sad-sacked, he is forced to take public transit back home after his car is towed. On the bus, he meets Adelaide (Hayden Panettiere), an overly chipper teen who tries to rally his spirits with a cutesy song. Instead of moving away from the crazy girl or telling her to stop speaking to him, he agrees to grab a coffee with her.
Fast-forward to six months later, and Liam is in a quasi-relationship with Adelaide, although there is a considerable age difference. Over drinks with best friend Joe (Joel Moore), a struggling screenwriter, Liam lays out all the qualms that he will have to overcome in the next hour and a half: a lack of direction in life, an attraction to Adelaide that has never come to fruition, and an estrangement from his alcoholic father.
In typical Hollywood fashion, all of these problems are solved one way or another with a soul-searching trip to an exotic locale. Luckily, it’s nothing as slow as Seven Years in Tibet, or as contrived as Elizabethtown.
Liam is informed that his paternal grandmother, whom he has never met, has passed away; Liam has inherited her home in Shanghai. So he does what any restless soul with an aversion to working for the man would do, and flies across the world to sell her home. While in Shanghai, Liam experiences major culture shock, but soon gets over it when he meets and falls for Micki (Kelly Hu). In an impulsive, euphoric high, Liam decides to move to Shanghai.
Liam’s transformation isn’t as drastic as one might find in these types of films. After all, this isn’t Raising Helen. Liam doesn’t suddenly find happiness in his life, or embrace his Asian culture with fervor. It’s these little touches that make Shanghai Kiss realistic, relatable, and heartfelt. The story lags at times (and when it lags, it really lags), and there are several clichéd plot points that it could do without (as well as stock cinematography that’s meant to be grand but just falls flat), but the script more than makes up for it with sharp and witty dialogue, and nuanced character progression that’s rare to find in most films.
The most recognizable face in Shanghai Kiss is probably Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”). In fact, if you check out the film’s poster, she’s featured more prominently than its star, Ken Leung. Panettiere is the type of actress that just looks annoying on screen, but has the special talent of making us like her by the end of her scenes. As bubbly Adelaide, she’s doing a retread of her role in Bring It On: All or Nothing (see, watching that film was not for naught). In both films, she plays a naïve, overly optimistic girl who, by the end of the third act, will be just a little wiser. In fact, Panettiere should probably call up her agent and ask for less typecasting, but that’s beside the point. At times, Panettiere plays Adelaide with as much originality as a P. Diddy song, but there are a few rare scenes where she turns up her acting and actually makes us feel compassion for an otherwise two-dimensional character. The other leading lady, Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King, Cradle 2 The Grave, X2), is very pretty to look at, but lacks the talent to truly round out the cast. It isn’t clear how or why Liam feels a strong connection with Micki, outside of animal lust. Chances are that Micki is more of a mystery than the writers intended, probably because there isn’t much to go on outside of Hu’s stilted acting and a few sympathetic glances thrown Liam’s way. In fact, the scenes between Micki and Liam make for a good time to have a bathroom or refreshment break.
Appearing in virtually every scene, Ken Leung does a decent job of capturing interest. As Liam, his apathy and aimlessness in the first half of the film is perfectly conveyed without resorting to the Xanax school of acting that so many young actors ascribe to, and his comedic timing is ample. But it’s in the second half of the film that Leung comes alive and earns his keep as lead, playing off the energy of his co-stars. As strange as it may sound, there’s a lot more chemistry between Leung and Panettiere than there is between Leung and Hu, although there’s a nineteen year age gap between the former pair.
Konwiser, the film’s director, has a resume that reads like what you’d expect from a director who knows what he’s doing, but hasn’t had the big break that he needs: a handful of projects that no one’s really seen, sprinkled with a potpourri of nominations and accolades that no one’s really heard about. David Ren, the film’s other director and screenplay writer, marks his debut with this film, which is no doubt a labour of love. With a pretty good first try, this budding indie director has copious potential. Overall, both directors do a commendable job.
In an interview, writer-director Ren describes Shanghai Kiss as “Garden State meets Lost in Translation,” but that’s trivializing the film. There are blatant similarities (the twenty-something lethargy, the yearning for identity, the culture shock of being in a new environment), but there are also bigger, and striking, differences. Shanghai Kiss is a cute movie with surprising layers. But most importantly, it proves that Ken Leung an emerging actor to watch. ¤ C.Ho.
SHANGHAI KISS:
(out of 5)