Review:

For the sake of certain performers, you sometimes wish the material they're in could be stronger - and that's certainly the case with the Hong Kong comedy/drama "Comrades, Almost a Love Story."

Thanks to two very strong lead performances (by Hong Kong pop star Leon Lai and actress Maggie Cheung, from the "Police Story" film series), it starts strong and manages to avoid most of the cliched pitfalls that most romantic movies face.

Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung-known in the U.S. for her turns in The Heroic Trio, Irma Vep, and Supercop-is simply an international treasure. For my money, no other actress alive has such a masterfully pensive face, such an ice- melting smile, or such a fluid romantic presence. Without her, Peter Chan's Comrades, Almost a Love Story would merely be the Frenchest Hong Kong movie ever made, right down to the boulevard-minstrel score and post-Truffaut pathos. With Cheung, though, it's an out-and-out landslide, a moving culture-shock fable of capitalistic tribulation, rueful intimacy, and sweet melancholy the likes of which international cinema hasn't seen since the death of Jacques Demy.

Is there anything Maggie Cheung can't do? Her recent turn in Olivier Assayas' Irma Vep was a startling turnabout from the standard Golden Harvest and Hong Kong roles that fans have come to know her for. But even while trading body blows with Jackie Chan and the Heroic Trio, Cheung's formidable acting skills have consistently shone through. Comrades, Almost a Love Story is no exception, though viewers may want to bring their schmaltz meters and a spare hanky or two to this well-done and elegiacally engaging film.

Comrades, Almost a Love Story is a fetching, breezy romance built on the winning presences of its two lead performers, the open-faced Leon Lai and the gorgeous Maggie Cheung. Directed by Peter Chan from a script by Ivy Ho, it's shaggy, like virtually every Hong Kong film. But it's got more life than just about any romantic comedy from Hollywood, and it's got sweetness, gravity and good humor to spare.

A PARADOX about cinema is that the more detailed and well-drawn stories and characters are, the more universal their appeal. Some films reach for the lowest common denominator of the movie audience by trying to make their characters appeal to everyone, and wind up with self-consciously risk-free, uninteresting mayonnaise.

Actor/Actress Info: