Yesterday Once More

cover

AKA: In the Nick of Love

Year of release: 2004

Genre: heist/romance

Director: Johnnie To

Action director: Yuen Bun

Producer: Johnnie To

Writers: Au Kin-Yee, The Hermit

Cinematography: Cheng Siu-Keung

Music: Ben Cheung, Chung Chi-Wing

Editors: Law Wing-Cheong, David Richardson

Stars: Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng, Carl Ng, Jenny Hu, Gordon Lam, Chun Wong, Hui Siu-Hung, Lin Wai-Kin

Rated IIA for mild language

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Yesterday Once More  Yesterday Once More

Yesterday Once More  Yesterday Once More

Though ostensibly Yesterday Once More is a heist picture, it's quite different than what comes to mind when most people think about when they envision a Johnnie To crime-themed movie. Having more in common with the breezy 1960's romantic comedies of Cary Grant than To's usual quirky and violent efforts, Yesterday Once More initially holds some promise, but quickly falls apart after the audience realizes that neither of the two lead characters are particularly likable, which leads to not really caring at all about their fates.

The two aforementioned characters are Mr. and Mrs. Thief (or Mr. and Mrs. To, depending on which version you are watching) a former married couple and thieving team (played by Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng) who split up after they have one too many fights as to how to divide their loot. Fast forwarding a few years, both thieves are after a set of jewelry owned by Mrs. Allen (Jenny Hu). This leads to a cat and mouse game between Mr. and Mrs. Thief that hints that their romance might be able to be rekindled.

But will you actually care? Probably not. Granted, this grizzled jaded veteran reviewer would not normally count romance films as his cup of tea, but I can still appreciate a good entry in the genre every now and again. The major stumbling block here, as stated before, is that Mr. and Mrs. Thief are extremely flawed characters, and not in a compelling way. Mrs. Thief comes off as a caricature of your stereotypical shrill, shallow, and greedy Hong Kong woman, while the Mr. is simply a smug prick. Generating any sort of sympathy, or even interest, for and about these people comes off as little more than a waste of time for everyone involved.

Besides some of the base elements like the costume and set design, cinematography, and editing -- this is definitely a nice-looking film -- Johnnie To seems to stumble his way through Yesterday Once More. Even the heist scenes, which you would think To could direct in his sleep, come off as lazy and flat. The first heist has an interesting setup, but is quickly ditched to use the gimmick of a dog snatching jewels. And then To re-uses the same setup in its' entirety again near the end of the movie. This indicates that the film was perhaps rushed through, with To pulling a Wong Jing and depending on the star power of the lead actors, rather than his own film-making skills, to create a compelling motion picture.

RATING: 4