Magazine Gap Road (2007)
A Hongkong drama between David Lynch and a lipstick commercial...
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Powerful
Brilliant and touching
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
At one point Kate (Ying Qu) pours boiling tea over her armpit to make the itch from the injection pricks go away. What an ugly way to burn. But that's about the most shocking scene in an otherwise utterly boring movie. Like the world it's set in, "Magazine Gap Road" is all shiny surface and no substance (if you don't count the kind of substance you need a needle for). Writer-director Nicolas Chin is trying very hard to make his feature debut into a Hong Kong spin on David Lynch, but it ends up looking like a random lipstick commercial thanks to lots of polished pictures, mellow music, and empty phrases. For a long time, you have no idea what's going on, but the sad news is you don't care. Admittedly, the movie is technically well-made and Jessey Meng (who plays Samantha, an ex-escort who has escaped the Tokyo call-girl circuit) is a real looker, as is her co-star Ying Qu, the fallen angel. Carl Ng (who didn't look so bad opposite Asia Argento in "Boarding Gate") is ridiculous as a smug millionaire.