This is three-quarters chick-flick romance and one-quarter crime drama, but the two elements aren't blended successfully. The crime drama element is very basic and uninspired (it's the old "undercover cop is suspected by his superiors of having turned triad," complete with a contrived resolution).

The romance part is pretty well done and very touching in places. In fact, the scene where the Japanese woman gets off the elevator and meets Leslis Cheung's second character for the first time was really powerful and struck me as a classic cinema moment. But I found the Japanese actress pretty one dimensional, even if she can shed tears and smile at the same time, and I didn't really care that much for her character.

Leslie never disappoints me and Michelle Yeoh is good in her short stretch; another reviewer suggested the movie would have been better with Michelle in the lead role and I agree.

The soundtrack is noticeable here, and that's probably not a good thing. At the very beginning, I liked it, but there was one sequence where they played a snippet of several different songs quickly together, as if they were just trying to squeeze stuff in so they could sell the soundtrack later. And someone (was it Leslie?) sings in English what sounds like a karaoke rendering of Elvis Presley (his style, not his music) over and over again till you want to jam chopsticks in your ears.

All in all an ok love story, a good selection if you're viewing with a girl friend or wife. Nothing to go out of your way for.