Comrades, Almost a Love Story Reviews

An old-fashioned romantic epic, in the best possible sense of that term, about two friends who refuse to see that they were meant for each other. It's 1986: Fresh off the boat from mainland China, Li Xiao-jun (Leon Lai) moves in with his Aunt Rosie (Irene Tsu), who owns a Hong Kong brothel and is generally thought a bit touched by virtue of her claims that she had an enchanted flirtation with actor William Holden while he was shooting THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG. The unsophisticated Xiao-jun is soon bewitched by perky go-getter Li Chiao (Maggie Cheung), whom he first spots working as a counter girl at the local McDonald's. Ciao's sole and relentless ambition is to make a lot of money, and to Xiao-jun's dazzled eyes her resolve and sophistication epitomize the Hong Kong woman. The two become friends and occasional lovers, remaining close even after Xiao-jun marries his childhood sweetheart (Yang Kung-yu) and Chiao takes up with Pao (Eric Tsang), a gangster she meets while working in a massage parlor. Years pass, hearts are broken, tragedy strikes, history rolls forward. Xiao-jun and Chiao are separated and, unbeknownst to one another, both wind up struggling in New York City. Will they ever get together? Screenwriter Ivy Ho and director Peter Chan dust off those old cliches and take them out for a spin, with surprisingly fresh and engaging results. It doesn't matter that the details are Chinese: The broad strokes are pure, classic Hollywood weepie. Sure, you can harden your heart to Aunt Rosie's tales of long-ago romance, or the sweet voice of pop idol Teresa Tang (Xiao-jun and Chiao lose a bundle trying to sell tapes of her syrupy love songs to Hong Kong trendies). But why would you?