Review of Crossing Hennessy (2010) by Mattias E — 13 Sep 2010

Ivy Ho ventures into an easier territory with her second feature after the restrained excercise in style of Claustrophobia. But while Crossing Hennessy might seem lightweight at first glance, with it's visual sincerity and casual feel, it features some recognizably real characters with real issues, even up to par with those in her previous movie.

Even though the movie indeed strikes a comic chord, especially in Jacky Cheung's extremely pampered middle-aged slacker character, he is soon revealed to be a pretty sad clown who's faced some rather bitter life choices.

And Ho latches an even sadder backstory onto Oi Ling, magnificently played by the criminally mistreated Tang Wei in a great comeback role. Love happens, of course, since Crossing Hennessy is marketed as a romantic comedy, but not predictably or easily.

In fact, the most genuinely felt romance going on in the movie is the one between Tang Wei's character and Andy On's brutish boyfriend, and that one ends up far from happily. So far, it looks like Ivy Ho made a good call when switching to both writing and directing.