Sausalito (2000)

Making for an odd film title to us non-US viewers, Sausalito is actually the name of a suburb in San Franscisco. And that's where Andrew Lau's film Sausalito is set, dishing up a most shallow romance in its pleasant environs.

After coming up with the bee's knees of search engines, programmer Mike (Leon Lai) finds his tech development company courted by US investors. To the ire of his cousin and finances guy Bob (Eric Kot), Mike's playing hard and refusing to sell despite the millions of US dollars being offered for his firm. He's a confident guy at the negotiating table.

He's much the same way out of the office, living large on the town. By night he's pulling the chicks and hanging with the lads in a nightclub, and roping in fellow Chinese patrons to participate in his lame bar gags. One such patron is Ellen (Maggie Cheung), a single mother, painter and taxi driver. Hours after meeting with Mike in the bar Ellen's back on the shift, watching from her cab as Mike takes a slash on a mural she painted. Rational folk might not find this guy's behaviour all that endearing. But Ellen lets him into her taxi and they romp in the back seat all night.

Though Ellen is later troubled at explaining it, their relationship builds. Ellen soon is crashing over at Mike's office-cum-apartment and eventually moves into his classier abode out in the San Francisco suburbs. Spending time together is aided by the nature of Mike's daily work schedule - apparently doing bugger all until his company's debts become too real. And when the financial troubles kick in for Mike, his grumpy streak kicks in as he works on "Nirvana", a portal idea Ellen devised. Getting the idea right may make or break him, both in money and in loveä

With some good casting for the lead roles, the romance story is surprisingly shallow; the fault of a script which offers too little information on why the two are attracted to each other. Sure, Ellen is perhaps a lonely, single mother but what else is drawing her to Mike? His free spirit? His money? It's unclear. Side characters that could otherwise back up the pair add little by way of support - Suki Kwan does little as Ellen's friend while Richard Ng similarly has a marginal role behind Mike. As they stand, both characters could easily have been left out without damaging the story. Eric Kot's role is enjoyable however, injecting a mildly humourous touch to the film. The overall look of the film certainly comes up colourful meanwhile, using several landmarks expected (the bridge and the bay) and unexpected (the Castro Theatre) to enliven the appeal of the town the film is set in.

A Sausalito hand-painted billboard adorns Mongkok's Empire Theatre.

Credits:

Directed by Andrew Lau
Executive Producer: Wong Jing
Starring Leon Lai, Maggie Cheung, Richard Ng, Eric Kot, Suki Kwan and Valerie Chow