SARA Starring: Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin, Simon Yam Tatwah, Sunadcha Tadrabiab Director: Herman Yau Lai-to Category: III (Cantonese and English) It's been far too long since we've seen Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin act her age. Having risen to fame as one part of the duo Twins, it seemed like the 32-year-old entertainment personality would remain forever juvenile on film. But in this drama, which puts her alongside people with several Category III movies under their belts, Choi portrays the titular character as a girl and an adult. Sexually abused as a child by her stepfather (Tony Ho Wah-chiu), Sara (Choi) runs away from home and spends her nights in various locales, including country parks and fast food joints that stay open 24 hours. While hanging around the Tsim Sha Tsui East promenade late one evening, she meets the gentlemanly, middle-aged Kam Ho-yin (Simon Yam Tat-wah). The two embark on a complex relationship that involves him getting her into a good school, and they become lovers. Rather than depict what goes on between Sara and Ho-yin in an overly simplistic, sensationalistic manner, director Yau and scriptwriter Erica Li Man consider the possibility that the unlikely duo could actually come to care deeply for each other. Still, there's no arguing that there are troubling aspects to Sara and Ho-yin's unconventional affair — and it's to the filmmakers' credit that they do try to address them in the movie. After graduating from university, Sara puts her heart and soul into a career as an investigative journalist. Over the course of her work, she goes undercover at a hostess club and unearths juicy details about certain powerful men. Upset when her editor decides against printing her exposé, she heads off to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to cool down, only to come across an underage prostitute who she decides to interview for a story. Initially more willing to remove her clothes and have sex with Sara than reveal her real name, "Angela" (Sunadcha Tadrabiab) only tells Sara she's called Dok-my when she realises that Sara is trying to understand her situation and help her to escape it. In Dok-my, Sara finds a soulmate of sorts. A well-intentioned film with pertinent messages to impart, Sara purports to be more than a star vehicle for its lead actress. But it clearly also has received more attention than usual because of the role that Choi has chosen to play. It's a very demanding role and Choi sometimes falters. She's not helped by the make-up, which fails to differentiate between the scenes where she's supposed to be a teenager, and those in which she is a young adult. Adding to the confusion is the way the movie cuts back and forth between the present and various points in Sara's past. It's a shame the filmmakers were unable to achieve what they intended. Had they done so, Sara would have been a far more compelling film deserving of more respect. Sara opens on March 5