Billed as a Hong Kong modern Romeo and Juliet, there is definitely something in the allusion to Shakespeare and young and immature love. However, Romeo and Juliet die. Fu and Nam have to live.

What starts as an American-like high school teen show with the usual crushes, snubs and mocking authority turns into a poor boy romances rich girl story. She has lawyer parents who neglect her. He has a working-class mother and father (who drives a bus). They go camping together, she provoking him, he not wanting to appear inexperienced. Pregnancy. Parental shock and alarm. Running away to fend for themselves. Hard work and survival. Crises and…

For an audience outside Hong Kong, this seems a nice, even sentimental at times, story of hard luck and trying to make good. For an audience in Hong Kong, one assumes that this is a moral and morale-boosting film dealing with social concerns. It takes up issues of poor parenting, especially by the privileged classes. It takes up abortion issues and opts pro-life. It takes up themes of teenagers taking responsibility for their lives, working and supporting family. It questions the capacity for love and commitment in those who are too young while urging them to responsibility. It acknowledges that individualism and freedom militate against family unity and the extended family. So, this is clearly an emotional and didactic drama.

The cast are persuasive – of interest is the fact that Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee Fong (taller than but resembling his father) is the young man. Fans of Hong Kong films will recognise the familiar faces of the fathers, Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang.

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