Shanghai Kiss

Infobox Film
name = Shanghai Kiss


caption = Shanghai Kiss DVD cover
director = Kern Konwiser David Ren
producer = Kip Konwiser
writer = David Ren
starring = Ken Leung Hayden Panettiere Kelly Hu
music = David Kitay
cinematography = Alexander Buono
editing = Zene Baker
distributor = Anchor Bay Entertainment
released = USA October 9, 2007
runtime = 106 min.
rating =
country = China / USA
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
amg_id = 1:391092
imdb_id = 0469184

Shanghai Kiss is a 2007 direct-to-DVD romantic drama comedy. The film was released on DVD on October 9, 2007. [cite web | title = Shanghai Kiss - Yahoo! Movies| publisher = | url = http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809423577/dvdinfo | accessdate = 2007-09-01]
Hayden Panettiere won the Feature Film Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for her role as Adelaide. [cite web | title = Shanghai Kiss Awards - IMDb| publisher = | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469184/awards | accessdate = 2007-09-01]

Synopsis

Liam Liu (Ken Leung), a Chinese American actor living in Los Angeles unwittingly gets involved with a high school girl. He suddenly has to go to China after learning from his father that he has inherited his grandmother's home in Shanghai. He's not very appreciative of his Chinese roots and at first only wants to sell the house and get back to the U.S. as fast as possible. He gets a taste of the Chinese culture after meeting a girl there and ends up having some big decisions to make.

Plot

The plot starts out with Liam auditioning for a role in an upcoming film. He is rejected after some initial questioning by the screeners because he is not considered "Asian" enough. This begins our glimpse into the casting decisions of Hollywood producers, who Liam believes heavily stereotype Asian American males to the point where it is difficult for them to land non-stereotypical roles. Liam then takes a city bus home from the audition since his car is towed away, and there, he meets Adelaide Bourbon (Hayden Panettiere), a young, high school student. During the ride home, Liam discovers that Adelaide has been sketching a picture of him. The two begin to have a conversation and Adelaide sings Liam a song, whereupon they become quick friends. Liam feels guilt for becoming friends with such a young girl and Adelaide later asks Liam to go to the prom with her. He declines, and this serves as the basis for the many times that Liam feels guilty in having a budding friendship with such a young girl. His friend, Joe Silverman (Joel Moore) is one of the most vocal opponents of the "friendship", as Joe expresses his belief that no good can come out of what is developing between him and Adelaide.

During a scene early in the movie, Liam expresses his frustration in the stereotyping of Asian males in Hollywood, since he himself is a struggling actor. Joe reminds Liam that it was Liam's decision to drop out of Columbia University to pursue a career in acting. In the "bar scene," as it is known, Joe challenges Liam to ask out a white woman at the bar. Liam rails against Joe and the woman at the bar, Georgia (Kathleen Lancaster), because she supposedly represents the superficiality and status-seeking of Hollywood and of white American women in general. Still, Liam is attracted to Georgia and has been in several "W.G.W.A.G." (White Girls With Asian Guys) relationships before in Hollywood. Nonetheless, Liam takes Joe up on this bar bet and sits down next to Georgia. In a small period of time, he is able to charm Georgia, saying that her name represents Liam's "favorite Confederate state." The two sleep together, but Liam cries after his father calls him while the two are engaged in sexual intercourse, ostensibly because Liam, while able to sleep with the woman he chose, feels pangs of emptiness from not being connected to his culture, and instead, being lured into the image of success represented by women such as Georgia.

After sleeping with Georgia, Liam picks Adelaide up to take her to school. Liam is obviously conflicted as he connects with Adelaide on an intellectual level, but cannot get past the difference in their age. Liam then gets a call from his father in New York, informing him that Liam's grandmother has died and has left Liam a small house in Shanghai. Liam travels to Shanghai, promising to call Adelaide daily while he is there. Upon arrival, he is greeted by his cousin who speaks English and who has found an older couple to buy Liam's house for him. After spending a night out on the town with his cousin and a call girl named Amy (who he did not have sex with), as well as an awkward late night call from Adelaide at his hotel, Liam goes to meet the buyers of his house. After seeing the view of Shanghai from the house, and being told that the house would sell for five hundred thousand yuan and not five hundred thousand U.S. dollars, [1 Chinese yuan = 0.142763 U.S. dollars] Liam chooses not to sell the house. While at a bar, he meets Micki Yang (Kelly Hu). Micki is initially resistant to the charms of Liam, but the two slowly tour Shanghai doing things Liam has never done. Micki is still somewhat skeptical about Liam, since Liam is essentially a foreigner in his home country and has never visited and knows little about his homeland. After spending the night together, Liam decides to move into his grandmother's house in Shanghai.

Liam returns to L.A. and tells his friends of his plan. After a tearful goodbye with Adelaide, he returns to Shanghai and tries to live as a Chinese person. Unfortunately, Liam is picked up by Micki's boyfriend, of whom Liam was not aware, after he finds out about Liam and Micki's relationship. Pointing out Liam's American upbringing, Micki's boyfriend dumps Liam from a limo in the pouring rain in downtown Shanghai. Liam is reminded of his foreign status as he wanders the streets unable to communicate with the locals or find his way home. Liam later asks Micki about her boyfriend, and she responds that she is only with him because she is a very poor person and it would greatly aid her family to have access to such money. She also mentioned that Liam cannot possibly understand the life options one has when one is living a life of abject poverty.

After Micki tells Liam to go back to Los Angeles, he again almost sells the house to the elderly couple, but has another change of heart and decides to leave the house to Micki, who will be able to use the house to live in with her family and thus will not be forced to remain with her boyfriend because of money issues. He returns to the States to reconcile with Adelaide, but she rebukes him as she is leaving for France to attend art school. With a mixed message goodbye, she goes to France and Liam reconciles with his father, getting a job at Starbuck's and successfully auditioning for a commercial for a genital herpes treatment. Adelaide later returns to the States and Liam is prepared to meet her upon her arrival to the airport from France. However, as he prepares to walk up to give her some flowers, he sees Adelaide kissing a Caucasian man as they part. Liam walks out of the airport and disposes of the flowers in frustration of himself. As he prepares to leave however, Adelaide accosts him. When he asks about the man in the airport, she informs Liam that the man was her instructor and that "he's as gay as a pineapple." They agree to restart their relationship on a more solid footing (if for no other reason because she is now of legal age), and he explains that he's "daffy about her." She tells him "anything is possible, thats the beauty of living". The movie ends with the two hugging outside the airport with the song "Home" being sung in the background by Hayden Panettiere.

Cast

References

External links

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