Okinawa Rendezvous (can)
Okinawa? Vacation? These two questions are as confusing as the characters themselves in this story. Jenny (Faye Wong) wakes up one morning and decides to leave her lover, Sato, while taking with her a bag of Sato's money. The bag of money is the ransom money to Tang (Leslie Cheung), a thief who has Sato's diary which contains the latter's explicit triad activities. By chance, Tang meets Lo (Tony Leung), in Okinawa, a low rank filing clerk in the police force. Lo recognises Tang as a most wanted international criminal, and hoping to catch Tang in action, Lo persuades Tang to rob a bank. The situation becomes chaotic when Jenny comes into the picture...
Starring Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Faye Wong and Gigi Lai Chi.

Before I watched the movie, I had already heard some disparaging remarks made about 'Okinawa Rendezvous', so I wasn't expecting much from it. Still, in the end, 'Okinawa Rendezvous' taught me that when it comes to movies, it's your own opinion that matters, and no one else's.

'Okinawa Rendezvous' was produced, written and directed by Gordon Chan Ka-Seung ('Beast Cops', '2000 A.D'). It stars legendary Hong Kong singers/actors Leslie Cheung ('The Kid', 'Double Tap') and Faye Wong ('Chungking Express'), Tony Leung ('The Island of Greed') and Gigi Lai Chi ('Young and Dangerous', 'Born to be the King'). A celebrity studded cast indeed!! But is the movie any good? Well, let's find out.

The story starts with Jimmy (Leslie Cheung), a playboy thief who's blackmailing Sato, the local triad boss, for money. The problem is, Sato's girlfriend Jenny (Faye Wong), who's also having an affair with Jimmy, leaves both of them in the lurch when she runs away with the blackmail money. Matters are further complicated when Lo (Tony Leung), a Hong Kong cop on vacation, recognizes Jimmy as a big-time crook and decides to advance his own career by setting a trap for him.

Gigi Lai Chi plays Sandy, Lo's neglected girlfriend and she shines here despite her character's small role. As usual, Tony Leung is outstanding with his funny voice and deadpan facial expressions. However, the rest of the cast managed to put in only a mediocre performance. Leslie Cheung doesn't have to do much here except to look cool and Faye Wong's performance is unmentionable.

Still, the movie isn't that bad. Although a couple of plot twists were quite predictable, the story is nicely structured and the sequences moved along at a fast but interesting pace. Also, there are a couple of scenes that got us laughing our sides out. The background music is just spot on, with acoustic guitars giving the film a rough feel.

The problem is that, at times, especially during the first half-hour, the story in 'Okinawa Rendezvous' simply didn't add up. It tries to be a comedy, an action film, a love story all at once, leaving the viewer confused as to where the plot is going. In the end, 'Okinawa Rendezvous' can only be recommended as a light-hearted romantic fare with some comedy in it.