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Cast:
Francis
Ng
Michelle
Reis
William
So
Conroy
Chan
Stephanie
Che
Producer:
Steven
Lo
Canny
Leung
Director:
Steven
Lo
Score:
 
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BAKERY
AMOUR
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2001 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Some
occasional viewers of Hong Kong cinema have bemoaned the fact
that stars such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat and
Michelle Yeoh have left for Hollywood and therefore the Jade
Screen is on its last legs. However, regular movie watchers
will undoubtedly have noticed that Hong Kong film-making is
enjoying a resurgence of acting talent and there remains a
number of stars in the local cinemas; names such as Lau Ching
Wan, Andy Lau, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Sammi Cheng, Anita Yuen,
Jordan Chan and many others are proof of this. Near the top of
this prestigious list is Francis Ng. Ng's popularity was
initially gradual, but in recent years the local star has
started to increase his fan-base world-wide with performances
in films such as 'Bullets Over Summer' and 'The
Mission'. Released on Valentine's Day 2001, Bakery Amour
gives this highly talented actor a chance to take the role of
a romantic lead and finally galvanise his position at the top
of the Eastern market. The result is very much a mixed bag.
Uncle
Jet (Ng) moves to the big city to stay with his nephew and
enjoy a change of scene from the village life he was
accustomed to. On moving into a new flat, Jet discovers a
whole batch of letters that have been misdirected to his home
and have never reached their intended destination - a
beautiful local woman, Lok To (Reis). With curiosity getting
the better of him, Jet opens a few of the letters and finds
that they are all love letters from Lok To's former boyfriend
who has since moved to Paris. The romantic side of Jet
persuades him to create a plan to get the lovers back together
after this unfortunate misunderstanding has kept them apart
and so he opts for a very subtle way of achieving this.
Firstly, Jet pumps his wealth into a local bakery and, after
befriending Lok To, persuades her to act as a consultant at
this new workplace. Then Jet contacts Lok To's ex-boyfriend,
Jia Lam, in Paris and persuades him to come back to Hong Kong.
Finally, with the bakery garnering impressive local reviews,
Jet hopes that Jia Lam's love of local bread will bring him to
the bakery and in contact with the one he loves. This doesn't
work out as intended though as Jia Lam brings his new
girlfriend with him and, even more importantly, Jet begins to
realise that Lok To has become so much more than just a friend
to him.
The
obvious strength of 'Bakery Amour' is the two lead stars: the
always charming Michelle Reis as a very attractive love
interest and the quirky, yet absorbing Francis Ng as the
hopeful protagonist. The first half of the film concentrates
on these two fine performers and the realisation in the mind
of Uncle Jet that his relationship with Lok To is beyond mere
friendship; this makes up the most entertaining portion of the
film. Francis Ng is especially enjoyable as the slightly
eccentric, but honest Uncle Jet and he rises to the challenge
of playing a romantic lead, something that Michelle Reis is
fully experienced as. The film does, though, run out of
considerable steam when the main focus becomes Jia Lam and his
choice between his old love Lok To and his new girlfriend;
this becomes a somewhat uninteresting turn in narrative and
the promise the film's opening half displayed is sadly brushed
away. Only in the closing fifteen minutes does 'Bakery Amour'
regain the potential it had of being a touching romantic
comedy for local audiences and fully realise the lead
pairing's talents. The sudden switch of the film's focus must
lay on the shoulders of director Steven Lo as he allows the
first half of the film to hurtle along at a steady pace and
then gets the second portion of the film stuck in uninvolving
misunderstandings and entanglements. With better pacing and
firm concentration on the lead pair instead of the weak
relationships of the latter part of the film, 'Bakery Amour'
could have been an excellent romantic comedy. As it stands
though, the film is a flawed attempt that offers a pleasant
100 minutes of entertainment, but nothing more substantial.
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