Synopsis

Ren (Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin) is a dealer at an Los Angeles casino. He dreams of being a big time dealer in Las Vegas at Ceasar's Palace. When his girlfriend dumps him, he persuades his friend Sing (Johnathon K) to "borrow" the Casino's takings for one last try in the VIP Room at Ceasar's Palace.

Ren loses the money, so he and Sing accept a lift back to Los Angeles with Anna, a fellow gambler. While taking a rest stop at a bar, Anna gives Ren a pair of magical stones. She tells the story of The Stones of Resurection and explains her theory of parallel universes.

Later, the three are involved in an accident. Ren appears to be the only survivor, but the circumstances are suspicious. A young detective Tina Chan (Cecilia Cheung) is assigned to the case. Tina has recieved a Destiny pearl from her boyfriend for her birthday. It is said that when she finds the other half of the pearl she will know her destiny.

When she catches up with Ren at a gas station she tries to apprehend him. In the process, the two of them are drawn into the time tunnel by the Stones of Resurection causing an accident. After this second accident, Ren finds that time has been turned back, (the stones are to blame of course) and he has a chance to affect the outcome at the Casino and also save Sing's life.

Enlisting the help of Tina Chan, Ren sets out to change the future. He finds that his ex-girlfriend is having an affair with Tina's boyfriend. In the process of consoling her, Ren begins to fall in love with her. She gives him her destiny pearl.

Because he has already lived through this time period, Ren is able to accurately predict the cards he will be dealt and thus avoid losing. When he arrives at the scene of the accident he realizes that he had murdered Sing. Ren from the future must stop Ren from the past from committing the crime. At that moment time becomes one again and the past Ren and Tina are swallowed by the time tunnel.

Time resumes, but Ren has won at the Casino, Sing is alive and the visions Ren had of Tina in the time tunnel start to play out. Tina notices the destiny pearl worn by Ren (given to him earlier by Tina from the past) and knows that Ren is her destiny and they will fall in love.

Review

This movie was finally released in January 2001. The time travel plot makes for the usual Hong Kong mix of comedy and action. Ekin Cheng's performance is great in this movie, although it is a departure from his more usual roles. He is obviously trying to move in some new directions. Playing two versions of himself is challenging, but he manages to carry the film pretty well, showing his experience as an actor.

Cecilia Cheungs performance is weaker, she is not really believable as a police detective, especially as her English is not very strong. She gets better as the film progresses, especially once she is acting against Ekin Cheng. She manages then to show a wider range of emotions as she feeds off Ekin's acting skill. Her performance in this movie, however is not earthshattering.

There are some moments that are confusing. The detective Tina Chan's outfits are too similar. Also, the assault of Sing by the two thieves seems out of place, and the subsequent discovery of Anna in the trunk of the car after the accident is somewhat contrived. That said, the story moves briskly and is fairly easy to follow.

The movie is available on VCD and DVD. However there are some subtitle problems with the DVD released by MEI AH. Many of the subtitles are not complete, showing only parts of the sentence. For Non-Cantonese speakers this may be frustrating and could possibly be confusing.