Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye

viewed July 8, 2000 on VHS  Full Details

Maggie Cheung, 80s Hong Kong pop sensation Alan Tam and the oddly likable Eric Tsang star in a love triangle of friends, somewhat inspired by Jules and Jim but substituting melodrama for depth of insight. A terrific title and a great song by Alan Tam are the key features of an otherwise paint-by-numbers soap opera, where the last half hour is like watching a death march as two of the friends help the third cope with terminal illness.  The actors generate a lot of charisma together, though this film indicates little of Maggie Cheung's talents.  Tsang gets the most melodramatic role of the three, stumbling from one disaster to another throughout the film and on to a guaranteed Hong Kong Film Award for his heroically mannered performance.   

Actually, I wouldn't mind doing a love triangle film; they are admittedly as juicy a story as one is going to find.  The trick is to have the story actually say something about the parameters of friendship and love -- what is gained and what is lost with each decision made in the fleeting, mysterious moments when the boundaries of lovers and friends are blurred.  The problem with Alan and Eric is that instead of lingering on those moments, those impatient Hong Kong filmmakers prodded their plot forward with lame twists of fate that speak little of actual experience.  Chalk up another project for me to get working on...

Home