MovieChat Forums > Shanghai Kiss (2007) Discussion > The biggest problem about this...[SPOILE...

The biggest problem about this...[SPOILERS]

posted 17 years ago by hellomynameismisterburns
15 replies | jump to latest

in my opinion is the reason why the little girl likes the dude.

In that, there wasn't one.

She just hits on him for no reason one day, a stranger on the bus. Then their awkward relationship flourishes... but we don't know why. At least the dude manages to slip in a few half-assed reasons. But mostly, it's quite obvious why a hetero dude would be attracted to hayden's character: she's cute and is friendly. That's reason enough.

But why is she attracted to him? He's disheveled and a bit of a sardonic jerk. Absolutely no reason is indicated why she likes him, not even an "I don't know why, I just do" reason.

So how am I supposed to root for their relationship when I can't comprehend how it even exists in the first place? I suppose it was intentional to portray her this way, because all the other characters' motivations were explained. The girl in the bar was curious. The karaoke girl is a prostitute. Kelly Hu likes his humor.

So if I missed it, someone please enlighten me, because that lack of clarity caused a confusion that ruined an otherwise enjoyable film for me.

[–] hitman514-1 17 years ago

He's a pretty outspoken guy with a sharp-sarcastic sense of humour. Some women like that....

also reinforces the old saying : "opposites attract"

[–] hellomynameismisterburns 17 years ago

Yes but if that's what she likes about him, then she would indicate it somehow. Laughing at his jokes, remarking how "deep" he is... anything of the sort. To my recollection, there was never any indication from her, that shows what it is about him that she likes.

[–] hitman514-1 17 years ago

i see your point.

true, true.

[–] Phoenix_07 17 years ago

She has an Asian fetish.

[–] bombardon3 17 years ago

I think it was intended to be ambiguous and leave open the possibility that he might end up with Kelly Hu. We see him wrestling with it a bit when he asks if he's just the cool older guy and one day she's going to get over him. In the end he learns to "love and be loved in return". But I agree that maybe one more scene of them together might have cemented their relationship more and given the audience something more to root for. They had great chemistry in the movie theater scene.

[–] Donald_Hai 17 years ago

But dude, there are so little Asian Male White Female couples in America, actually everywhere else as well.

[–] VincentGecko 17 years ago

Instead of "little" you mean "few". It's all in the eye of the beholder, as an Asian male I've just so happened to have mostly hooked up with white females until a few years ago, so to me that coupling is vastly underrepresented in the media. It's pretty much just Bruce and Linda Lee. What you really never see enough of is Asian Male/Jewish Female/Black female threesomes.

[–] maxloh-1 17 years ago

In Berkeley the only Asian-Asian couples I ever see consist of fobs.

[–] Terran-Braxis 17 years ago

hahaah FOBS

[–] avnguyen 17 years ago

buddy, he just knows how to flirt and build rapport. thats all you need. of course the average american wouldn't know anything about women...

[–] smoovasbutter 17 years ago

I remember when Knocked Up had the same critism, that the movie didn't give enough of a reason why Katherine Heigl would go for a guy like Seth Rogan. And why was Cameron Diaz so into Ben Stiller in There's something about Mary? But I guess many romantic comedies are unrealistic in that way. Its Hollywood, not real life.

[–] honeypeach 17 years ago

i think he's cute. and his character wasn't THAT annoying.

[–] Terran-Braxis 17 years ago

*beep* got game, what do u want

[–] chillout21 17 years ago

i totally got what you mean.
yeahh i was confused about that too.
but the best response i saw was,
asian fetish LOL.

[–] Jook-Sing 17 years ago

FYI, about 1/3rd of US born East Asian men are married to white women.

Well, I agree with the posters that the storyline could have focused more on why she liked him as opposed to him trying to push her away. As some critics have mentioned in their reviews, he isn't portrayed as a very nice guy, he's rather an a$$hole to that girl he picked up for a one night stand, etc. I think audiences would have wanted to see something that would make them want to root for him to be with Adelaide at the end, i.e. that he is the right guy for her even though she's much younger.

It isn't necessary in romantic comedies as someone mentioned but I think the story would have been better if her attraction to him was developed better.