2.35:1

99

1

Sony Pictures

1999

July 11, 2000

Anamorphic

PG-13

Vincent Kok

Jackie Chan takes an unusual turn as a romantic lead in Gorgeous, a curious blend of Pretty Woman and The Karate Kid -- except that the kid, in this case, is Chan, in the Richard Gere role. It's a strange sight at first, to see Chan playing the cutthroat millionaire determined to drive his equally acquisitive competitor Lo (Emil Chow, with obligatory maniacal laughter). By the time Chan appears, though, the mood of the film has already been established by Shu Qi, who plays Bu, a romantic-minded girl from Taiwan who finds a message in a bottle, beseeching the recipient to come to Hong Kong. Tony Leung is hilariously campy as the gay cosmetologist (all of whose clothes appear to be either salmon or magenta) who sent the note, and who good-naturedly helps Bu set out to find the man of her dreams. Since that man is, of course, Chan, the hijinks that ensue involve a fair amount of hand-to-hand derring-do, leading to one of the odder meet-cutes in romantic comedy history: Chan jumps off a boat during an altercation and is rescued by Bu. Those who watch Jackie Chan movies chiefly for the action may find Gorgeous a bit slow and sentimental for their tastes, but Chan rises admirably to the occasion, and is altogether charming in the role. Qi, meanwhile, seems to consist of equal parts ethereal beauty and gleeful innocence, a winning combination.