Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

My impression of Turn Left, Turn Right was that it was light comedy without much substance. That being said, although the story is too "romanticised" to be realistic and the plot lacks depth, the movie still provided light and amusing humour. Laugh out loud moments can be found within this film, but if you come expecting too much from this movie, you'll leave severely disappointed. My views may differ from the views of whom this movie is targeted towards, as i am unfamiliar to the Asian movie scene and discovered this movie by chance. Though i have to say for myself that i enjoyed myself whilst watching this film, as at times mindless fluff can be very entertaining if you're in the mood.

I liked this movie, really, I did, it doesn't show you nothing spectacular, it doesn't show you something totally new..But it does show you a great directing (loved the two umbrellas), a great story, simple but great, good actors, some funny moments, some sad moments. A story that you start to enjoy the further the minutes pass, and without noticing you will find yourself wanting the main character to reunite with each other! A movie to watch, and that proves that Johnny To is one of the best director in Asia!A great story, a story of two people, that can never met, a story of two umbrellas, that we can see from above, but that never cross each other.Turn Right, Turn Left : Just a great story !

Turn Left Turn Tight is based on the best-selling illustrated love story of the same name by renowned Taiwanese author/artist, Jimmy Liao.The story revolves around dashing John Liu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), an inspiring violinist and Eve Choi (Gigi Leung), a professional translator. Like millions living in a large city, John and Eve lead lives of solitude. Despite staying in the same apartment building, their paths never cross. One day, while walking around a fountain in the park, they finally bump into each other... and it's love at first sight! Unfortunately, a sudden shower cuts the encounter short. They manage to exchange telephone numbers but the rain renders the phone numbers illegible.Inseparable partners, directors Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai who have worked together on many projects like Running On Karma, Love On a Diet, Love for All Seasons & etc, manage to recreate the magic of Jimmy Liao's story on the big screen. Even the lovely soundtrack with three songs by Gigi Leung blends well in a 'supporting' role. The pacing of the movie is just right. The audience will be in constant anticipation of the couple's next meeting, as meddling acquaintances, a former schoolmate (Edmund Chen), a food delivery girl (Terri Kwan) and pure bad luck, conspire to keep the would-be-lovers apart.Meanwhile the leads, Takeshi and Gigi, share good on-screen chemistry together, albeit briefly. Of course the two had previously appeared together in the 1999 romantic hit film, Tempting Heart.Turn Left Turn Right is a charming movie worth watching at least twice.

I am normally a fan of Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, though lately I have found they forays outside of macho, all-male films a bit distressing. Stylized though films such as Chung Fo and PTU were, films such as Running on Karma and Turn Left Turn Right can not but make me wonder about if they have any sort of talent outside of the genre made great by the likes of John Woo.The film, based on a story by Jimmy, a comic book writer of a gloomy variety from Taiwan, takes the premise that two people who, having met once when they were small, are fated to take on lives which parallel each other's. Without giving too much away, it follows the typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl routine. Fair and well. But the good things I have to say end here.<Chip on shoulder warning>It is difficult to take a film seriously when it attempts to portray a violinist who is supposed to be good enough to be hired from Taiwan to work for an orchestra in Vienna, when the actor himself can not be bothered to learn to hold a violin properly, let alone bowing properly to the music he was supposed to be playing. Equally, it is difficult to root for a girl who get scared translating German horror novels into Chinese, when her very job was translation of such texts. Perhaps the use of the Polish poet, and her poem, served some dramatic purpose which eludes me, though I suspect its only purpose was to show how "classy" and "refined" our heroin was. But the Chinese translation she kept mumbling on about was so badly done, so hard on the ears, so devoid of literary artistry that it only served to alienate me, the audience, rather than giving me the sense of fate and romance that it was supposed to. In short, two rather lacking actors playing two unconvincing and rather lacking characters. Apt, perhaps. Interesting? No.Then there was the supporting cast. I fail to understand what the script writer and the director thought throwing two comical supporting characters into what should have been a gloomy film, shot all in a grey tone, would achieve. The moment I laid eyes on them, in the midst of what would otherwise have been a delicate and sensitive story about fate and unrequited love, I wanted to reach into the screen and slap them silly.Though the premise was interesting, the film grew tiring very quickly when every scene has to be repeated, almost verbatim, once, by the other leading character. That was simply a clumsy and sloppy way of showing how their lives parallel each other, and was very trying on the audience's patience. Effectively, the film could well have been cut into 50 minutes and be done with.Perhaps I should say that the script writer and director should be lauded for their ability to take a perfectly interesting idea and making it uninteresting, and taking a cast for whom we would potentially have sympathy for and making them formulaic and laughable.