Second Time Around (2002)
A young man goes to Las Vegas with his best friend to prove he can win big bucks. When he loses all of the money, he and his friend get help from a young woman who tells the man the story of some special stones that are part of a legend involving time travel and parallel universes. When the trio get in a car accident, the young gambler is the only survivor. Pursued by a female detective, the two accidentally end up back in time on Christmas Day, where the gambler decides to make the wrong things right, and he also ends up falling in love with the detective.
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Reviews
Highly Overrated But Still Good
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Leave it to Hong Kong filmmakers to take a time travel premise and turn it into a gambling movie. Ekin Cheng is the gambler, and he has his eyes on taking the high rollers in Vegas. But things go wrong, and he ends up off a cliff -- but not before a mystic Indian talisman transports him, and the detective chasing him (Cecilia Cheung) back in time -- but only three days back, where they have to race to save lives, and of course fall in love. Bad jokes, bad English acting, and a silly time travel script that doesn't entirely add up, but what the heck, there is a lot of fun to be had along the way, and Ekin and Cecilia are entirely charming and can get you through the weak parts, and the Las Vegas desert setting adds some novelty into the production (for a Hong Kong film).
The movie itself is a confusing mess of time lines that probably has loopholes I missed because it lost me somewhere along the way. What saves this movie is its humor, some of its jokes even made me laugh out loud, a feat not easily done - I'm generally one for spontaneous humor and not set ups. The chemistry between the leads also helped warm me to their characters. Wished they downplayed the sci-fi bit and gave the talented Jonathan Ke Quan a bigger role. 7/10
This is a little different film that I've seen from Hong Kong. This time a guy goes to Vegas to prove that he's the best card player/dealer. Things don't work as planned. But a with the help of a girl and some magic stones, he gets a second chance. It nothing new, as there are many films with this similar premise like Groundhog Day, 12:01, Run Lola Run. Those films are better, but this movie is entertaining enough to keep your interest with a nice mix of action, drama, romance, and a bit of science fiction. **1/2 (Out of 4)
SPOILER=======================================================> I just finish watchin the movie. I loved how the plot was set up, so that ekin cheng finds out who commited the crime, but I am confused as how his attitude could have changed so quickly, the early ekin would kill for money, but the later one who is only a few days older would risk his life for his friend and the girl. but other then that I loved it