Despite a poster that seems to sell the film as a typical, happy-go-lucky Twins film, Just One Look is something different altogether. Director Riley Yip does not allow Charlene Choi nor Gillian Cheung an appearance until well into the first act, only after the main characters and settings have been introduced.
Yip takes this star power (coupled with that of Shawn Yue and Anthony Wong) and puts it in the backseat, behind the immersive story of a very particular nostalgic period, creating a sort of Hong Kong equivalent to American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused.
The story takes place in the 1970s on a small Hong Kong island where Fan and Ming spend their days selling sugarcane and watching movies every week. One day, the two of them fall for a drummer girl at a festival, and Fan soon moves on to take notice of another girl, mysteriously clad in all white, and endeavors to win her affection while dealing with issues of his own past.
The unique setting for the time period is one of the film’s stronger points. Yip situates the audience in this barely trodden rural 70’s world and lets us drift along, spending a day in the life with Fan’s group of friends as they occupy themselves with martial arts films, elaborate rat torture and the occasional gang war with wimpy, slap fights. Genres are seamlessly blended as the story moves from comedy and romance to bits of action, revenge and drama.
Once in a while, the film stretches itself too thin for the purpose of immersing the audience in island life, so the atmosphere is enhanced by these natural, coming-of-age tangents, but at the cost of a coherent plot.
The relationship between Gillian Chung and Shawn Yue’s characters also suffers as a result of the over-extended story. The Choi and Wong You Nam relationship has the advantage of being a side romance, and so fills in gaps of the film with light, cute scenes of teen love, but the main romance does not have the time and heart to get as deep and melodramatic as it does.
Still, the cast does an exemplary job of making their characters the most likable and engrossing elements of the film. Anthony Wong, in particular, steals the show as the conflicted antagonist—a seemingly detestable man who still manages to win over hearts.
Reviewed by Tarun
