Eight Taels of Gold

Mabel Cheung's previous movie was a bitter-sweet romance set in New York: stuffy middle class Chinese girl meets working class Chinese layabout. This one reverses the formula: working class achiever from New York's Chinatown visits China and falls for a glamorous peasant girl who is already engaged to someone else. Conspicuously lacking in depth, and all too ready to go for easy laughs and pathos, this is partially redeemed by the strength of its two lead performances. Sylvia Chang and Sammo Hung, both cast somewhat against type, relish the chance to play off each other, and both are highly watchable. Hard to forgive the endlessly dragged-out unhappy ending, though.