Ruby, a Chinese-American who recently moved to Hong Kong, is anxious because she has no clue where her friends are while standing outside of a bar. A stranger overhears her which leads to him introducing himself as Josh, a finance worker and resident of Hong Kong for ten years. He instantly offers his assistance, helping her locate her friends. Due to Josh’s strong understanding of Cantonese, which earns him Ruby’s trust, they venture out to explore the stunning nightlife of Hong Kong. What was supposed to be a simple friend zone conversation turns into a fun night walk brimming with witty banter, making it a delightful ‘first date’ vibe. In the film Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong locations are strung together as if they’re one continuous scene, something that Emily Ting has done before in her work.
The film, however, does not fully capture the subtext that anchors most romances, especially tragic romances. While the two lead actors do put their charm into the delivery of the dialogue, it remains overelaborate “humor”. The stakes for both characters are not high enough, and the fork-in-the-road dilemma lacks profundity. Such romances engage the viewers wishing to see the two protagonists resolve their differences and unite. Viewers need to suffer together with the characters waiting for them to overcome the barriers that lie in between them Turning Point Joshua takes Ruby to her destination. During this walk, Josh gives her a mini tour and they both get to know each other better. He explains how he feels about his job as a finance, and casually mentions how he would like to quit and pursue a career as a novelist. Ruby, only knowing a little about him, gives him a motivational talk on taking chances. To his surprise, Josh does seem genuinely moved by her motivational speech. What is more, he accepts her view without challenging it, which makes it seem as if he has never heard such utter nonsense before. It is an overly simplistic explanation for why his life is altered by the brief encounters he has with Ruby. On the other hand, Ruby also has dreams that are yet to be fulfilled.
These devices are quite common, and they do work. Ruby and Josh are financially well off (through no fault of theirs; they do put in a lot of work) which has somewhat softened, if not lazed, and complacent them. Ruby hardly looks at Hong Kong, she is frustrated at the absence of Netflix and the availability of Mexican food. Josh knows the cool non tourist places to go, but has no perspective on his surroundings save for the fact that it is already tomorrow in LA. To Ruby and Josh’s peers, it looks like they are not curious and completely disengaged with their lives. It is difficult to care for these people who have chosen to take the easy road.
Ruby and Josh each have off-screen partners who reveal themselves via phone messages or an upcoming Skype reminder in Outlook Calendar. Their feelings towards their respective partners, let’s say, is shall we say, not very enthusiastic, and the difficulty with that is that the two seem like very easy targets for infidelity instead of something much more complex and delicate. In the category of “romance” films that are not working are Oh, go ahead, just cheat if you want. No one will notice. Or, Break up with your spouse because, let’s be honest, you aren’t and have no need to, so what damage are you really going to be causing? That does not scream romantic.
Cinematographer Josh Silfen gives a welcome range of angles to all the talk, at times capturing the two talking from behind the camera or rotating the camera to later position it in front of them. Also, regarding the lights of Hong Kong, Silfen manifests a visual sensitivity: they blend and glitter in the foreground background and produce a dreamy world. While this dreamy style serves the purpose of holding the attention-getting context of Ruby and Josh’s interaction set in Hong Kong, it also draws a limit on their interactions and connections.
The style keeps “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong” from being a glorified travelogue, but it also unfortunately zooms in on the two leads’ lack of chemistry. Greenberg and Chung were both executive producers of the film. They both are skilled. Greenberg is charming and effortlessly real-guy. And Chung is calm and composed in managing the alters of mood and energy. But Josh and Ruby “bond” in a lackluster shopping montage, which has them arguing for the price of a selfie stick, and in a puzzling fortune-telling scene.
Consider the movie “Dogfight” which has a comparable structure to sightseeing. There are scenes with River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, and people would definitely compare it to Ethan Hawke’s and Julie Delpy’s poem Scam in Before Sunrise, where they pay a man lying asleep next to a river to write poetry for them. The contrast is there and it is significant, and what is absent is the enchantment of connection.
“Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong,” similar to Meet-cutes, it shares some qualities with Vincente Minelli’s ‘The Clock’ David Lean’s ‘Brief Encounter’ Nancy Savoca’s ‘Dogfight’ and Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ trilogy. Echoes of cultural disorientation are also included, which remind us of Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation. It is apparent that Ting understands the “bucket” into which she wants to deposit her narrative, alongside the self-restraint and bittersweet yearning she aims to realize. There are snippets, very few of them, in which that tone is reached, but in the grand scheme of things, Ruby and Josh’s bond is closer to the featherweight relationship of Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro in “Falling in Love” instead of The Torment of “Brief Encounter” or The Urgency of The Clock. Her experience in making a film with this narrative structure, already tomorrow in Hong Kong serves as an object lesson indicating how difficult it is to achieve success. It reminds us what a miracle “The Clock” or “Before Sunrise” were, the stories shimmering with delicacy and inference, in-depth conversations leading to connections more intellectual than sexual, masterpieces of barely controlled passion and longing. “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong” suffers in comparison.
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