The Bourne Ultimatum and Secret – Double Happiness?

I really should have given Jay Chow a benefit of doubt. He does not have any track record in writing a movie nor actually directing one, and certainly his previous acting in Curse of the Golden Flower was less than impressive. How do I feel about “Secret”? That will have to wait.

Two weekends ago, before Cynthia flew off to Bandung, I caught up with Lora and her boyfriend to have dinner and to watch the sneak preview of “The Bourne Ultimatum”. Partly to celebrate Lora’s birthday, partly to celebrate my first paycheck, and partly to catch the Bourne series because Cynthia is a big fan of Jason Bourne … oh, I meant Matt Damon.

When we get older, our memory sort of fades away. I don’t recall that many times Lora and I have watched movie together since young. The last movie we watched was a Cantonese comedy back in Hong Kong (5 years ago? After her previous breakup of a very long relationship, I remember). Another movie I can remember of was Titanic. Yes, I watched that movie three time on the big screen and yes, I have watched the uncensored version.

“Bourne Ultimatum” has received ravishing reviews from many sources. I can understand why. For the duration of 111 minutes, there was hardly a dull moment. It was action after action, cut scene after cut scene. And I think the story is well crafted. My only discomfort was that the camera jerks quite a fair bit and it made me dizzy throughout the movie. Also, there seems to be lacking of a “babe” factor. To choose between Bourne and Bond, I would probably go for the latest Bond movie. Despite all my discomfort, “Bourne Ultimatum” remains a strong movie and you shouldn’t give it a miss especially when you have watched any of the previous installments.

“Secret” on the other hand has way exceeded my expectation. One of my new colleagues suggested a Jay Chow movie and I said fine. To be fair, I am impressed by Jay Chow’s music talent and I do have 2 of his albums. But for a self-directed movie with a story written by him? I didn’t know what to expect.

After watching “Secret”, I am convinced that Jay Chow has talents. He is smart too. In this story, he plays the role of a music student who plays piano. That is right up his alley. Hence, in terms of acting, it is well within his area of passion. I am so surprised by his skill on the piano as he played it really well in the movie. Perhaps “Secret” is full of music and because I love music, I naturally love the movie. That certainly helps. At some point in the movie, I felt like watching YUI’s “Midnight Sun” from the scripting point of view. But it is not. “Secret” is full of twists and turns and I would say, given such a complex plot, this movie actually has a rewatch value.

Plot aside, I particularly love the acting of Kwai Lun-Mei. She has so much chemistry with Jay Chow and she is darn cute in all the love scenes. Besides, she can really act out some of the emotional scene. Kwai Lun-Mei somewhat reminds me of the main actress of the Korean movie “Once In A Summer”.

Is “Secret” a classic? Probably not. Is “Secret” something that worths checking out? Probably yes.