Or can I..? First murmurings regarding this, Wong Kar Wai's first full-length English feature, have not been favourable and it includes two of my least favorite acting performers, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. And the trailer looks more than decidedly dodgy (see below and judge for yourselves). That said... My opinion of Law is improving, if gradually, after a solid performance in The Talented Mr Ripley, AI and a recent second viewing of Road To Perdition (though I still don't share my colleague's high opinion of Law in that film). And, after all, this is Wong, my favorite director working today. It will surely have all the trademarks of dazzling cinematography, brilliant, snappy editing, and stunning performances. However, losing Tony Leung for Jude Law is not a way to win me over!
On the flip side, casting the impossibly beautiful Norah Jones (cast your glance right) does go someway to offsetting my Leung withdrawal syndrome (and apparently he's stunning in Ang Lee's latest, to be previewed soon). Jones looks like a film star and, as with Faye Wong in Chungking Express (and, later, 2046) this could be an inspired piece of casting. It might also stink, badly, but time will tell. Expect languid, dreamy, romance under neon lights and multi-dimensional characters. Let's just hope the actors are up to it.Despite all that I've written, this is Wong and I'll be salivating right up to the moment I walk into the screen. He's given me too much joy and pleasure for me to become cynical just because he's decided to make a film in America and for me not to be excited about it. I am. Very.
See what I mean about the trailer? Or not?
Oh, and where, oh where, has (cinematographer and Wong stalwart) Christopher Doyle gone!!!!
