Movie review: ‘Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong’

It’s hard to watch Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, in which a man and a woman meet randomly in a major city and talk their way into a deeper relationship, and not think of Richard Linklater’s lovestruck Before Sunrise. By that considerable yardstick, this less incisive romance comes up short. Yet, as both a valentine to new love and Hong Kong’s Cantonese cosmopolitanism, it’s a breezily enjoyable and heartfelt travelogue.

Real-life husband and wife Bryan Greenberg (How to Make It In America, One Tree Hill) and Jamie Chung (Once Upon a Time) are Josh and Ruby, American ex-pats who meet on the street outside a bar when she needs directions.

They end up talking and walking and talking some more, realizing they share similar sensibilities -- he’s in finance but wants to write; she’s in toy design but wants to be in fashion. A revelation cuts things short but, as fate would have it, they run into each other again on another night a year later, allowing them to continue their infatuation.

Their conversations run from the mundane (Hong Kong residents not understanding Seinfeld) to meaningful (the stereotypes of interracial/cross-cultural dating), all with the visually stunning Hong Kong -- the real star of this movie -- as a colorful, neon-lit backdrop.

Tomorrow in Hong Kong, the first feature from director/writer Emily Ting, doesn’t go anywhere unexpected. But it’s a pleasantly diverting trip nonetheless.

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This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 4:50 AM with the headline "Movie review: ‘Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong’."