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 eave it to Jackie Chan to do a romantic comedy and not
have a single kissing scene in the entire thing. (Unless you count the film's
outtakes, which play over the end credits; one of them features Chan kissing
co-star Qi Shu during an underwater scene.) "Gorgeous" is a straight
comedy with some action stunts in it, but for the most part everything is played
for laughs.
Qi Shu stars as Bu, a Taiwanese girl and hopeless romantic.
When a bottle containing a romantic message washes up on her island, she decides
to follow it to its author, who lives in Hong Kong. Soon, Bu arrives at the
doorstep of Albert (Tony Leung), the messenger, only to discover that he's gay!
Disappointed but still cheery, Bu stays in Hong Kong with Albert and by chance
spots Chan (Jackie Chan), a womanizing playboy/corporate raider, and falls madly
in love. What follows is a case of mistaken identity and a number of action
sequences that goes nowhere. Hey, it's a Jackie Chan movie, what did you expect?
"Gorgeous" showcases a more mature acting style
by Jackie Chan ("The
Accidental Spy"), who plays the straight man throughout much of the
film; that is, he's serious until he engages in the Buster Keaton-like fight
scenes that Jackie is most known for. As with all Jackie Chan movies, the fight
sequences in "Gorgeous" are elaborate and highly choreographed.
Actually, if you were to take out the film's two long fight sequences, both of
which involves Chan battling a shorter westerner (Bradley James Allan), the film
would run just short of 70 minutes, at the most. In a way, the fight seems
superfluous, especially against the film's comedy plotting. The movie could have
done without them; and actually, it would have been much better without them in
my opinion.
Qi Shu, who annoyed me to no end in "Young
and Dangerous 6", actually uses her manic personality and squeaky voice
to her advantage in this romantic comedy. Her Bu is highly likeable and the
character's optimism and sense of wonder are very contagious. It's interesting
to note that Shu has gone on to play a variety of roles in her short career, and
you couldn't exactly say that she's been playing the same part over and over.
That is, she hasn't kept the squeaky persona, and has actually shown a lot of
range. Her turn in "Skyline
Cruisers", for example, is a completely different character from
"Gorgeous" or "Dangerous".
On the whole, "Gorgeous" is a funny movie,
eliciting laughs from a variety of situations. Its whole mistaken identity
nonsense is cleared up rather quickly, and the entire thing doesn't drag or come
across as completely unbelievable. While the romance between Chan and Shu
(there's about 20 years between them) is a little awkward at times, the two have
enough charisma to make it credible. It should also be said that
"Gorgeous" does not fall into a category I have come to dub Absurdist
Hong Kong Cinema (take a look at "High
Risk" for an example). For the most part, the movie works as a romantic
comedy, and even a sometimes too stoic performance by Jackie Chan doesn't dull
the laughs.
A co-starring turn by Tony Leung ("Infernal
Affairs") as the gay Albert, on the other hand, is not always
successful. Leung sometimes overshoots by doing what most people associate with
"being gay." Leung is mostly good when he's understated, and not so
good when he goes too far. Emil Chau plays Lo, Chan's business rival, who wants
to hurt Chan, but not hurt Chan, since he still considers them friends.
The two have a rather odd relationship, made all the more stressed since they're
both in the same business.
"Gorgeous" is your standard Jackie Chan movie,
but it's much funnier than the standard Hong Kong comedy. There are plenty of
fights and pratfalls, but Chan seems more subdued here, allowing the comedy to
take precedence over his trademark Buster Keaton-inspired fight sequences. It
works, and as a result "Gorgeous" is a better film than expected.
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