PARIS HOLIDAY (巴黎假期) (2015)

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: James Yuen
Cast: Louis Koo, Amber Kuo Tsai-Chieh, Alex Fong, Janice Man, Jeremy Jones Tsui, Hu Jing, Candy Liu
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films and Clover Films 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 August 2015

Synopsis: Kit leaves Hong Kong for Paris with a broken heart, to start a new page of life and venturing into the wine business. Through real estate agent, Lau Chung, he finds a shared apartment with a weird tenant, Man, a desperate artist going through a bad breakup. Man hates men after a devastating breakup, in order to get along with Man under the same roof, Kit pretends to be gay. At the beginning, Man’s eccentric and insane behavior gets onto Kit’s nerve, but after knowing Man’s heartbreaking past by chance, Kit decides to stay and teaches Man how to get over a failed relationship, as this is exactly what he has encountered in the past. Kit also helps Man ignites her passion for drawing, which allows Man to regain her confidence and balance in life. Soon, the two get closer and falls for each other. One day, Man bumps into her ex-fiancé Fai, she is shocked but surprised that she no longer felt any pain - she has really overcome the past relationship with the help and support of Kit. Meanwhile, when Kit and Man are going to move a step forward, Kit’s ex-girlfriend comes to Paris causing misunderstandings which takes a toll on the relationship.

Movie Review:

Paris Holiday marks a collaboration between a prolific filmmaker and possibly the world’s most prolific actor.

Veteran HK screenwriter and director James Yuen helmed and co-wrote this romance drama which is set in picturesque Paris. Hardly a stretch when you think of it as the location itself is already a bigger star than any of the cast involved. Still a romcom needs a pair of good-looking people (subjective though) to work and right here, we have the pairing of Louis Koo and up-and-coming Taiwanese actress Amber Kuo (Tiny Times, Triumph in the Sky) in the arena.

Koo plays Kit, a heartbroken guy who has just relocated to Paris from HK to take on a new job as a wine dealer. At his current rented flat, he has to share the place with the unit’s previous tenant, Xiao-Min (Amber Kuo) who is currently in a terrible state of mind after being dumped by her fiancé. For whatever reason, Kit becomes Xiao-Min’s gay BFF all because of a little white lie by housing agent, Michael (Alex Fong). Slowly, Xiao-Min begins to get back on the right track with Kit’s constant encouragement, nuggets of wisdom and being the household’s handyman. Predictably, you should know how it’s gonna end. Kit and Xiao-Min is going to end up happily together or one of them is going to end up dead and the agony spills to Paris Holiday 2. As a responsible reviewer, I’m not spoiling it for you so you have to watch it yourself.

While the pairing of Louis Koo and Amber Kuo makes for a fresh, comfortable watch, Paris Holiday happened to be a pale product compared to Yuen’s much superior classic, He’s a Woman, She’s a Man. Inconsequential, mostly eye candy and diabetically sweet. It’s a forgettable commercial title in the league of his past fluffy comedies liked My Sassy Hubby and Look for a Star. None of the plot developments are particularly outstanding and Yuen has to turn to Amber Kuo for some silly antics to set up the story in the first half because honestly she is still cute as a button at the ripe age of 29. Koo at the age of 44 still looks as dashing as ever even though his best attempt at portraying a fake gay friend is hardly convincing. Neat hair, neat suit, LV wallet. That’s not gay, that’s stereotyping.

As the story starts to unravel, the audience gets a deeper look behind Kit and Xiao-Min characters via flashbacks and voiceover. Apparently, both has a sad story to tell and it’s up to viewers to decide whose version is more melancholic. It turned out in the end that Kit is not always the wise confident man he is now. He has a much successful girlfriend in terms of career and he thinks he should not hold her back. In Xiao-Min’s case, her ex-boyfriend and her were once university classmates, vow to complete their education and stick together through thick and thin. That of course didn’t work out.  

Yuen tried hard to make the story arc of Kit confessing to Xiao-min he is not gay interesting but that only came out awkward and half-hearted. At the very least, Yuen and his team didn’t forget to include two subplots to prolong the running time simply there’s only so much to showcase between two lovelorn people getting back into the love game. The first subplot involves Alex Fong’s womanising character, an assumed flawed character that is later revealed to be in love with the wife of his deceased buddy. The other story involved a pair of estranged father and daughter played by Janice Man and Anthony Chan. Even both never get much exposition in the end but somehow they are far more compelling than the main plotting.

Unsurprising, Paris Holiday is filled to the brim with scenic breath-taking shots of Effiel Tower, Notre Dame, a lush vineyard and Arc de Triomphe (obligatory locations I must add) just to name a few. Accompanied by Lincoln Lo’s Parisian-theme music score, the entire movie experience runs liked a visually arresting music video. Technicalities are perfect though that can’t be said of the overall drama. 

Movie Rating:

(Paris Holiday makes you crave for a vacation in the French capital and nothing else)

Review by Linus Tee