Lost in Translation vs. Garden State - The Debate
David Ren pitched this project as "Lost in Translation" meets "Garden State."
"Lost in Translation" is a fish out of water story about an American actor in Tokyo who falls for a younger girl, who is involved, so they remain platonic.
"Garden State" is about an actor whose mother passes away so he goes back to his hometown to bury her and while there, reconnects with his hometown roots, including falling for a girl there.
In both movies, the arc is these actors who have been dead on the inside for so long, finally live life because of a woman who helps them lose their inhibition.
"Shanghai Kiss" is about an actor whose grandmother passes away, so he goes to Shanghai, where he's a fish out of water, falls in love with a girl there who happens to be involved, all because he can't be with the younger girl who really loves him, so they remain platonic.
"Shanghai Kiss" is the very definition of a rip off of "Lost in Translation" and "Garden State" by the writer's own pitch.
It's further evidenced by the stealing of shots from "Lost in Translation" such as the cab ride into the city, the hotel and bar settings, etc.
It follows the same trajectory as the aforementioned films and does them with none of the grace.
"Lost in Translation," by Sofia Coppola's own admission, is an homage (rip off) to Wong Kar Wai's films, from the photography to the famous whisper in the end (see Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, and In the Mood for Love). So what happens when a film is ripping off "Lost in Translation" and "Garden State"? Xerox syndrome.
A copy of a copy of a copy is always inferior.
In addition to the aforementioned, there's a complete lack of character development. Liam falls for and is willing to move to Shanghai for a woman he's met and been with for 2 days. He gives up his dream of reconnecting to his roots within 2 months when she's not available. The direction and tone is wildly uneven, veering from soap opera level melodrama to cornball romance, missing every beat.
The dialogue is so on the nose it's painful:
Liam: I'm sick of you criticizing my life
Dad: I have the right to criticize it. I paid for it.
Liam: What about you? I can smell the whiskey on your breath right through the handset...
Dad: Why do you hate me?
Liam: Because you killed my mother.
I'm sure the fans of this film will balk at my logic just as the fans of anyone who's ripping off someone else tend to do.
Those fans are few and far between though because the most telling indictment of this film is the fact that it went straight to DVD because distributors saw the exact same film I did.