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| Daniel Henney at HIFF's Korea Night Reception 10/12/12. Photo Credit Nonstop Honolulu. |
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Disclosure: For those that haven't seen this movie- WARNING. This blog post contains spoilers.
Tuck another movie into Daniel Henney's belt. The one time fledgling model turned actor, supporting actor and then action hero is now a leading man.
He and director Daniel Hsia have pulled off a sweet romantic comedy about learning about one's own cultural identity and opening yourself up to receiving what life has in store for you.
Daniel Henney stars as a Chinese-American (American raised) New York lawyer named Sam Chao in Daniel Hsai's "Shanghai Calling". He is in one of the biggest deals of his life, one that could possibly make him a partner in his law firm, when things start to go south.
Sam is expecting a promotion, but instead of promoting him, the partners decide to send him to take care of the details with his client, personally, in Shanghai, China.
Needless to say, Sam is not thrilled. He arrives grouchy, a bit snappy, and basically puts Relocation Specialist, Amanda (Eliza Coupe), in her litty bitty place. After arriving at his swanky apartment, he is greeted by construction noise. He is, of course, not very pleased. He essentially tells her he'll be firing her if she doesn't get them to stop. And even goes as far as to throw his weight around. He hands her his business card and tells her to give that to the construction workers, to threaten that he will sue them if they continue. Pfft! As if! Any normal woman or person would have thrown that card back into his face. Handsome although it may be.
The movie follows Sam as he encounters different characters such as the Mayor of Americatown, played by Bill Paxton, (Think Chinatown, but the opposite.), Fang Fang his assistant, and quirky individual by the name of the "Awesome Wang". (absolutely not what you think)
He continually battles his way through the language barrier. Although he is Chinese, he speaks not one drop of it. But the ex-pats (Paxton and Coupe) all are able to. And he is in culture shock. He comes to learn that you're supposed to hand over your business card with both hands while bowing, "bao" (Steamed bun. Although I am not sure it was called this in the movie.) is a breakfast food and that privacy is obviously not an issue while sitting at a table in a restaurant with Awesome Wang, and are suddenly joined by five other people. Really, quite spontaneously.
He finds that everyone has to work hard for their money. Even his sophisticated looking assistant, Fang Fang, who moonlights as a waitress at a karaoke bar. People pour 100% of themselves into what they do. And he realizes that he really needs to check his honesty gauge with other people. Some are only out for themselves and the hell to anyone else. He really comes to learn the human side of life. Filled with friends, laughter and loyalty. Something that he has obviously missed while working himself up the corporate ladder. And in essence, he becomes more human himself.
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| Daniel Henney with Hawaii Hermosas- Photo Credit Hermosa USA |
Where's the romance? Well, while all of this is going on, he's trying to figure out his feelings for Amanda. He finds her interesting. She's an ex-pat that came to Shanghai for a fresh start, and she and her family have adapted their lifestyles to the Chinese culture. He is initially annoyed with her, but eventually grows to respect her, admire her, and eventually fall in love with her. In one scene, he even swoops in to save her from a creepy French guy she was set up with. (Insert a sigh here) Predictable, but cute nonetheless.
I've always liked movies that show the slightly different side of life. Especially, when it shows someone in a totally different environment. Hilarity almost always ensues. For example, in the movie, because Sam is unable to vocalize his needs in Chinese, he ends up paying money for a taxi cab ride that lasts for literally two seconds. He is also unable to converse with his live-in housekeeper. And he misunderstands Fang Fang's kind gestures of support as flirting. (Yeah, he was bit full of himself here.)
All in all, this is a cute movie. A bit slow in some areas, not too deep. But it has great characters and a good storyline. There's just a hint of humor, but nothing over the top (Jim Carey movies come to mind), and there's a touch of romance without any heavy lovemaking scenes. (Yes, you can be romantic without any sex scenes! Thank you Daniel Hsia!) It really makes you want to watch it over and over again. It's just clean, good, fun.
I had a chance to attend the premiere in Honolulu and there was a Q & A after with both Daniels (Henney and Hsia) and they mentioned that they've been receiving good feedback about the movie and they are looking into distribution. Yes! I can't wait.
Thank you Daniel and Daniel, and the rest of the cast and crew of Shanghai Calling, for putting out a quality movie with good values that's lots of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you will be able to team up again in the future. Looking forward to more great things from the both of you!
