The opening shot introduces us to Camille Men (director Yan Cui) and Jessica Lin (Diana Peng) sharing a sauna. Presumably they're a couple. Flash back to their first accidental encounter years before in the Toronto airport. They've just arrived from China—Camille coming back to her husband after an extended visit; Jessie a new immigrant.

Immediately, everything goes wrong for both women, and before long, they're looking for love in all the wrong places. In fact, their story is a series of interlocking romantic and professional relationships involving a circle of shared acquaintances.

Camille, a doctor, cold-bloodedly uses everyone, never losing sight of her most important goals. The buxom Jessie floats from lover to lover, slowly working her way up the socio-economic ladder but never really thinking ahead. She's relatively helpless and passive in almost all situations, the diametric opposite of Camille.

Just when it appears that the two women are about to connect, we cut back to the sauna, as if the 5-10 minutes of film where they formed their relationship had been snipped out. That could easily have been the most interesting and important part of the story—the moments when these two women with such different personalities and backgrounds come to care about each other. But those scenes aren't there. The filmmakers were apparently more interested in following their characters into the bathroom when they pee and in showing off with pointless time-lapse shots of city buildings than in creating any dramatic tension. Almost every time that a conflict is about to become interesting, the focus shifts to other characters.

Who deserves credit and blame? The box copy credits Yan Cui and Qi Chang as co-writers and co-directors, and lists the actress who plays Camille as Shirley Cui. IMDb gives Yan Cui sole director credit and says that she plays Camille under the name Shirley Cui.

The DVD

Video:
From the specks that freckle the opening credits, it's obvious that this full-frame image is going to be less than perfect. That's really not important, though. The film has the flat, grainy, austerely lit look you expect from an independent production made on location. This is not a movie you watch for terrific visuals.

Sound:
Dolby mono delivers all the punch and power you need for a movie where people seldom raise their voices and all important physical actions—two car accidents—occur off screen. The optional yellow English subtitles are outlined in black and are easily read.

Extras:
There are no extras.

Final thoughts:
Ang Lee handles similar material with much more warmth, humor and insight in "Pushing Hands" and "Eat Drink Man Woman." So does Mina Shum in the wonderful "Double Happiness," which is still inexplicably unavailable on DVD.