Easily one of my favorite HK films of 2004! Ekin Cheng shows us once again why he’s one of Hong Kong cinema’s top stars!
Leave Me Alone (2004)
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi, Kenny Bee, Lawrence Chou, Jan Lamb, Chi Wah Wong
Directed by Danny Pang
DURATION: 97 minutes
COMPANY:Â Tai Seng Entertainment
2004 had several cool movies come out of Hong Kong and among my top 5 movies was “Leave Me Aloneâ€.
The story is about two twin brothers (both played by Ekin Cheng). Yiu Chun-Man is a gay fashion designer who has problems with holding any relationships because of his fast paced work life. He is visited by his twin brother Yiu Chun-Kit, who came from Thailand to visit his brother in Hong Kong.
Both were separated when their parents divorced, so both brothers wanted to catch up on how their lives have been in the last ten years. Yiu Chun-Kit is not aware that his brother is gay but he makes the trip to Hong Kong with more than just a reason just to meet his brother and catch up on old times.
One morning, Yiu Chun-Kit borrows his brotherʼs car and runs into a woman and gets into an accident. Since he doesnʼt have his license, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is the person who got into an accident. As Yiu Chun-Man awaits in the hospital while his brother is in a coma, his brotherʼs phone rings and it appears that Yiu Chun-Kitʼs girlfriend, Jane (played by Charlene Choi) needs her boyfriend back in Thailand to sign papers for a loan. Since his brother is in a coma and due to the accident, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is in a coma, he goes to Thailand in his brotherʼs place. It is there that you learn that the life that Yiu Chun-Kit has lived has been borrowing money from loan sharks who are expecting payment within the next few days and if they donʼt receive the loan money from the bank, Yiu Chun-Kit and Jane will pay with their lives.
They donʼt get the loan and Jane and Yiu Chun-Man (using his twinʼs identity) are on the run, trying to find ways to get money to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, Jane tends to do what she wants and it tends to get her into trouble and leads to both she and Yiu Chun-Man taking on triad bosses. “Leave Me Alone†is actually very entertaining and the camera work is very well done.
Ekin Cheng does a fantastic job playing two different roles. Yiu Chun- Man has frilly hair, gay and is passive and Yiu Chun-Kit is Mr. Cool, he dresses well but very pro-active. Eking Cheng did a great job that you reallyndonʼt question him playing two roles at all.
As for Charlene Choi (member of the music duo, TWINS), I actually found it very entertaining to see her play another different type of role. I also found her much more mature and sexy in this role. This time around, the chemistry between Ekin and Charlene works a lot better this time around compared to their first pairing in “My Wife is 18†due to their different types of roles played and frankly, their age difference. Charlene Choi is quite sexy in this film but what may be a long stretch for many HK viewers is to see Charlene play an active role as a gun-toting, action heroine and Ekin Cheng standing back in his role as Yiu Chun-Man (Well, Yiu Chun-Man is a fashion designer) and to see these two work with each otherʼs characters, definitely works.
The action scenes are typical HK fun with guns ablazing, unimaginable ammo coming from one clip, car chase segments and much more. The computer generated graphics are good and not as fake looking. Although an action movie, the film offers another story about relationships. Since both brothers have to assume the otherʼs identities, they get to learn more about how each brother has lived, their faults and why they both have problems with their relationships and the people they love. As for the DVD, I found the video quality very good, presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and the audio quality is served in DTS or Digital 5.1 and sounded sweet during the action segments on my home theater system.
The DVD offers several special features such as a making of featurette, teaser, trailer, production notes and other extras or usual offerings on HK DVDʼs. If there was one negative that I found, itʼs not more of a negative but more nitpicking is that if you select the title menu button on your remote, it will take you directly to the movie and not the title screen. Thus you need to select the DTS or Digital 5.1 sound first after the copyright screen to access the title menu and not by remote.
“Leave Me Alone†is a fun film that was among my top 5 for 2004. Ekin Cheng does a wonderful job of playing two different characters, Charlene Choi showing us that she can play something new and to find an actionfilm that a good balance of humor and not so much seriousness was nice to have and I recommend people to check this DVD out.