Jenny (Faye Wong) is a Hong Kong girl who falls out of love with an Okinawa triad boss, so she leaves taking 200,000 dollars of his cash—which was intended to pay off a blackmailer named Tong (Leslie Cheung) who has the boss’s diary. Meanwhile, Dat (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a Hong Kong police officer on vacation with his girlfriend, recognizes Tong and plans to catch the thief. And to further complicate matters, Tong and Dat both fall for Jenny and a love triangle is formed.
While the premise may sound nice, the film’s narrative ultimately fails to deliver more than a contrived and apathetic plot. Romance, drama and comedy are all blended together half-heartedly. Some themes are suggested, and then neglected. And the story never finds its real hook. At the end of the film, viewers will struggle to understand the point to it all.
Instead, Okinawa Rendez-vous seems to just rely on its star power, which will surely trick many poor Hong Kong film fans into seeing the pic. The love triangle receives the most attention, but director Gordon Chan makes the odd decision to completely forgo displays of emotion or attraction. All three stars are somehow incredibly boring with their bland performances, while the writing never develops any character beyond stating their love interest and ultimate goal. Somehow, supporting characters like Vincent Kok’s, often offer more depth and amusement.
The film perhaps succeeds the most as a travel advertisement for Okinawa. Plenty of pretty beach and ocean pictures fill in the transitions with potential vacation spots.
But anyway you cut it, Okinawa is barely a light, amusing flick. It has its moments of dry humor, especially a well-plotted final ten minutes. But the rest of the insouciant film simply strings together sequences of beautiful, dull people walking around saying or doing even duller things.
Reviewed by Tarun
