A Roof with a View, with Veronica Yip Yuk-hing, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Yip Ho-yin, Ray Lui Leung-wai, and Kent Cheung Chuk-see. Category Category II. On Golden Harvest circuit. Two of a Kind, with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Wong Chi-wah, May Lo Mei-mei, Sharon Kwok Sau-man, and Tommy Wong Kwong-leung. Directed by Teddy Chan Tak-sam. Category II. On Empire circuit.
THE cleverest thing about A Roof with a View is its title. This is Tony Au's first picture since the leaden World War II romance Au Revoir Mon Amour, one of the major disappointments of the Easter season in 1991.
While there is no denying that A Roof with a View is markedly more viewable than its predecessor, this contemporary comedy rarely manages to live up to the wit promised by its name.
The roof belongs to Yip (Veronica Yip), the proverbial girl who cannot say no. Yip is still an innocent in matters of the heart, despite her marriage to a gangster husband whom she has not seen in three years. She manages to juggle single motherhood, a job, and an active sex life with virtually any man who feigns true love.
True love finally enters the picture in the person of Lau (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a policeman who lives next door. The movie depicts the budding romance between the two, as well as Yip's transformation into a woman with self-respect.
It is a good theme, and the film-makers manage to pull it off two-thirds of the time. The picture gets off to a false start with the dramatic suicide of Lau's colleague (Kent Cheng) - an incongruous sequence that looks as if it was intended for another movie. But the hour that follows is amusing.
