Love and the City (1994)
Reviewed by: jfierro on 1999-12-21
Leon Lai plays a young man who comes home after being released from juvenile prison. His widower father (Ng Man-Tat) has pretty much given up on the boy, and worries that his son will disrupt his own relationship with a divorced mother of one. While nobody believes Leon can go straight, he finds inspiration in Ng Sin-Lin, a girl he falls for after one meeting in a disco. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is none too pleased with Leon's advances. What's more, the daughter of Ng Man-Tat's fiance is upset that Leon is not interested in her, and accuses Leon of raping her. On top of all this, Leon is suspected in the murder of a prostitute. At a time like this, Leon needs people to start believing in him for once in his life. It may sound depressing, and it certainly has moments of moodiness, but the focus of this movie is relationships and trust. Surprisingly, Leon pulls off his born-loser role pretty well. What's more shocking is that Ng Man-Tat actually acts, offering some real depth to his role as a father who must overcome his pessimism to form a real relationship with his son. This may be the only time I have actually enjoyed Ng Man-Tat's presence in a movie. There are enough fresh twists in this movie that I would place it well above other films from this genre.