Rose (aka Blue Valentine) is a decent little Triad drama with some romance mixed in. It's nothing that hasn't been done before, but it gets pretty far on the likability of its' two stars, Maggie Cheung and Roy Cheung.

In the movie, Maggie plays an insurance saleswoman who is determined to get some big clients after she finds out she's pregnant. While meeting with a client, Roy scares away the customer, but then promises to make it up to her by buying a policy for himself.

During their negotiation, Roy is attacked by some rival Triads (I guess buying insurance could only be this exciting in a Hong Kong film), and then nursed back to health by Maggie. As you might guess, a relationship begins to develop - but will it last?

Like I said before, there's nothing all that special about Rose. The story is your usual Hong Kong "doomed romance" tale ala the Moment of Romance films. The mise-en-scene is very workmanlike and nothing to write home about.

Acting-wise, besides the leads, it's straight down the middle. Even Michael Wong is thankfully dubbed over, so we don't get the "pleasure" of hearing his Chinglish.

Really, the only thing of note here is director Samson Chiu's smoking fetish. It's pretty much a given that characters in Hong Kong movies, especially Triad pictures, tend to smoke like chimneys. But Rose takes things to a whole new level.

Almost every shot of Maggie Cheung has her lovingly puffing on a cancer stick. As if the symbolism wasn't clear enough, there's a whole scene where Maggie lovingly strokes her cigarette while she talks about how smoking has replaced romance in her life. Freud would have a field day with that little revelation.

At any rate, even though is not Maggie Cheung's best work by a long shot, it's still enjoyable enough to warrant a viewing. A word of warning, though - of you're expecting a straight romantic "get the kleenex" movie, keep in mind that this is still a Triad film, and, as such, there are some extremely violent bits.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]