Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015) Reviews

• I am so mad I really wanted to love this!

  andreamsecchi2016-04-22

  It is impossible not to think about Before Sunrise when watching this movie: two people meet in a beautiful foreign city and spend the night talking to each other. This movie was really frustrating, as I love Hong Kong and I love the two main actors, still, the superficiality of the writing and lack of depth during the whole movie was such a disappointment. The movie even lacks rhythm, as sometimes it takes forever and then it rushes to the end. There wasn't any grow or character deepening, there is no development in their conversation as it is always the same; by the end of the movie, the relationship between them didn't feel any closer than it was at the beginning. That is why it is so difficult to make a movie so much alike another, because I couldn't help but compare all along. Don't get me wrong, I love rom-coms, so this should have been and easy win. Maybe this could work for younger audiences that haven't seen the "Before..." movies.

• Basically a travel journal with a clumsy romance

  funkybassmannick2016-07-13

  A lot of reviews praise on how "real" this feels. Yes, it feels real in some ways, that it unfolds like a real date would unfold, but also the bad writing and clumsy acting continuously break that illusion. The first twenty minutes of this is just them walking around Hong Kong asking each other about their backstories. Literally just backstory info-dump throughout this whole thing. Yes, the conversation is what you would really have on a real date, but you end up feeling third wheel. So fun. The point of a story is to have something happen, and nothing really happens. The only decent thing that happens in this first segment is she is Chinese (though the actress is Korean?), and he is an American ex-pat, and he knows his way around the city better than her. They build on it a little bit when she keeps needing directions, and then when he finds a non-touristy bar to chill out in, but really this whole first 20 minutes is just about lazy info-dump. Eventually, spoiler alert, it's revealed that he already has a girlfriend. Sorry, but this is probably the most cliché trope in cinema. "You're great... but I already have a girlfriend... but only if I had met you first!" Then they bump into each other on a ferry a year later, and then they both have S.O.s but go on an amazing errand adventure together to pick up some clothes from the trailer. The writing is weak, and the acting is bad. The only redeeming quality is the cinematography makes great use of Hong Kong, and you learn a little about Hong Kong culture. Basically, it's a travel journal with a clumsy romance.

• A sweet romantic film

  Gordon-112015-12-24

  This film tells the romantic encounters happening over two nights in Hong Kong between an expat American man and an Chinese American woman. It's so refreshing to see an English language film shot entirely in Hong Kong. The filmmakers obviously passionate about Hong Kong, and has incorporated many always of local life into the film. It's nice to see both expat lives and local lives depicted in the film, though I would like desserts and karaoke in the film too! The plot is very romantic, I can actually understand how the woman gets jealous despite having just met the man. It also briefly and superficially explores the cultural divide and barriers of a cross cultural relationship. I enjoyed watching this film.

• ..there are many way worse.. you just have to relax and let it flow..

  bjarias2016-12-11

  This is a nicely done romantic-drama with an Asian twist. The leads are well matched. She is seriously gorgeous (from every camera angle), and an actor that many will definitely be on the lookout for in the future. The third important lead in the film is the city of Hong Kong itself. For those who have never been, it gives a very good feel and look inside this bustling metropolis. It's a simple story.. one that's been told time and again. They're both with other people, and cross paths with someone to whom they both have an attraction and almost instant connection. The dialogue comes easy, time moves along at a relaxed pace, although the story lacks complexity. It happens infrequently, but here's another rom-com-drama where there's no kissing, and little touching (except for a handshake and a brief dance). Of course running into each other the second time (especially in this complex city) would be nothing short of miraculous, but without it there is no movie. At the end do they make one more stop.. they want you feeling the answer is in her final glance.

• More Hong Kong, less of these two

  smasonnc2016-05-09

  I wanted to love this movie because Hong Kong was portrayed so beautifully. They got a lot of aspects of Hong Kong right, but the two main characters had no chemistry and the acting was so bad it was distracting. The script, assuming this drivel wasn't all ad-libbed, was contrived and unimaginative. First of all, the guy, Josh, was in finance and the girl, Ruby, encourages him to "follow his dream" of becoming a writer. Why do the villagers all have their pitchforks out for bankers? It's low hanging fruit. He wants to be a writer, but for someone who minored in English lit, his grammar is atrocious. What if his dream is to live in one of the most exciting cities in the world and not have to sell his blood to live? So Josh, on the advice of a girl he met once, quits his cushy bank job and decides to write full time. Paying rent in Hong Kong is tough even on a banker's salary. I hope he saved a lot of those bonus checks, so he can afford to be an unemployed writer in one of the most expensive cities in the world. He's so much cooler, though, what with the hipstery beard and plaid shirt and all. I noticed a few technical aspects which were probably dramatic license. The night they first meet, Josh offers to show Ruby to Lan Kwai Fong, which is 10 minutes away. The way he took her was the complete opposite direction and the escalator only goes up at night so they couldn't have taken it to Lan Kwai Fong. They even threw in a shot of a tram which is not even close to where they were going. Was he being creepy taking her the long way or was it for scenic effect? I gave it 4/10 because the Hong Kong scenery looked gorgeous. I have to give the filmmakers credit for making the Temple Street Night Market actually look like fun instead of a vast assortment of cheap tourist crap. Another transit issue, they went through all that to find a taxi to HK Island when the fast, cheap MTR is right there. That's probably because the MTR is not nearly as cozy and romantic a setting in which to decide whether or not you are cheating on your significant other. BTW, if you have to keep a relationship secret, you are. As a love letter to Hong Kong, this works. As a love story, it falls flat. I would watch it again, only this time with the sound off.