Another much hyped movie in Hong Kong in 2004 came in the form of "a third on screen union" between Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, who have fast become the darlings of the Hong Kong RomCom genre. Actually, this is their sixth film together (according to IMDb), but never mind how many, it was the impact their first outing in Needing You that most will remember most, which they followed up with in Love On A Diet.
Yesterday Once More is a story about two thieves, played by Andy and Sammi, who end up divorcing when the wife refuses to share the loot fairly from a recent steal. Two years later, she is proposed to by the son of a wealthy woman and she agrees - if only to steal her "fiancé's" heirloom, a very expensive necklace. Meanwhile, her ex-husband also has his eyes on it, and in a game of cat and mouse, they try to locate each others' stolen possessions whilst finding love again.
Yesterday Once More was quite refreshing. Johnnie To has strayed slightly away from the formulaic movies that most HK RomComs are usually done and has added some darker emotions into it. There's a little suspense too, as you can never tell when a character is lying or not. And personally, I think it is a cute romantic film. But straying down the line he has, the comedy element seems to have been left behind. Gags are fairly basic and the actors who play peripheral characters who supply them don't really match up to Sammi and Andy. And I'm guessing it is this that has brought the lukewarmish reception from cinema-goers in HK.
However, I personally think it is one of the better RomComs offerings you will see from HK this year. One for those looking for a steal.
