A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Bryan Greenberg wears black high top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

 

Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong

by Marcus Angulo

 

Bryan Greenberg wears chucks after the time jump in this film.

 

Hong Kong really shines in this film.

 

Outside a bar in Hong Kong, Ruby Lin (Chung), makes plans over her phone to meet her friends across town at another bar. Overhearing that her phone doesn't have a GPS and she is lost, fellow American Josh Rosenberg (Greenberg) offers to walk her to her destination through the complex streets of the city. As they walk and talk, they find a strong connection sparking between them. Josh tells Ruby that he’s been living in Hong Kong for ten years now and works in finance. It’s a good life, but he longs to be a writer and she encourages him to quit his job to write a novel. Ruby meanwhile is an American children’s toy designer vactioning in Hong Kong, the birthplace of her grandparents. Once they reach the bar where she is supposed to meet her friends, Ruby offers to stand them up to get a drink with Josh. While getting that drink, Josh confesses that he has a girlfriend and the reason he was outside the bar and overheard Ruby’s conversation was because he had left her inside doing birthday shots and flirting with other men. Ruby is infuriated by him being dishonest with her, and leaves.

 

The majority of this film is Greenberg and Jamie Chung doing a “walk-and-talk”.

 

One year later, while aboard the Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbor, Josh unexpectedly spots Ruby and re-introduces himself hoping to apologize to her. He tells her that their conversation last year affected him greatly and since then he has quit his cushy finance job to work as a writer. Ruby then reveals to him that she has been living in Hong Kong for the past year due to a promotion that temporarily relocated her there. In the spirit of honesty and learning from his mistakes, Josh tells Ruby he and his girlfriend are still together while Ruby tells Josh she also has a long-distance boyfriend. The two spend the rest of the night talking and reconnecting. Throughout the night, the once again feel feel themselves gradually drifting together romantically once more, remembering the chemistry that sparkled between them a year earlier.

 

Greenburg’s chucks must have been much easier to walk in than Chung’s heels.

 

This is a fun little rom-com, and with a runtime of only 78 minutes, it’s an incredibly easy watch. Chung and Greenberg have obvious chemistry stemming from them being a real-life couple, but they also play two people who are unsure if that chemistry is something real. The plot is pretty straight-forward and because of the short run time, the characters don’t get too much time to develop. However, that doesn’t quite matter here as this is more a story about the spark you feel with someone on one, special night.

 

 

Best Chucks Scene

 

Josh is now a struggling writer, as shown here by his flannel and satchel.

 

After the one-year time jump, Josh has changed up his look. To hammer home the fact that he is now living the struggling writer life, he has ditched the business suit and loafers for a flannel shirt, jeans, and black high top chucks. The outfit change is a not-so-subtle way to get this point across, but with a runtime this short, you need effective visual cues like this. This first scene following Josh around Hong Kong, leading into his reunion with Ruby, is also the best chucks scene in the film. We quickly get to see how he has changed over the last year, as aside from the wardrobe change, he also has a much happier demeanor. We also get to be immediately thrown back into the pair’s chemistry, despite the fact that the last thing we saw was their fight, where it seemed that Ruby never wanted to see him again.

 

Now reunited, Josh and Ruby begin their second night together in Hong Kong.