A minor traffic accident causes a heated spat between easy-going Tung Choi (Tony Leung) and instantly dislikeable Deborah Fok (Sammi Cheng.) In an attempt to make amends the two end up spending the night together which is the beginning of a tentative love/hate relationship in Joe Ma’s romantic comedy.

Tony Leung (Chungking Express, 2046, Hero) is a third generation beef noodle restaurant owner with a speciality in tripe dishes and a secret 30 year old sauce recipe. Sammi Cheng (Infernal Affairs, Everlasting Regret) is a cold workaholic who is not averse to the odd cruel outburst of threatening behaviour. When coincidence and bad manners bring the two together the clash of personalities makes for a fiery pairing. In an attempt to sort out their vehicular feud the two find common ground over a mutual taste in beer. However, when this drunken peacemaking ends up in a night spent together it’s the start of a sometimes difficult but surprisingly strong friendship which must stand the test of Choi’s meddling family and emotionally manipulative TV personality girlfriend, Mindy (Niki Chow.)
There is something about Fighting for Love that feels vaguely reminiscent of 1992’s Martin/Hawn rom/com vehicle HouseSitter. Possibly it’s the instantly dislikeable and ill-matched nature of their relationship. Like the earlier American film, Fighting for Love develops the unlikely love match into something decidedly rather likeable and surprisingly sweet against the odds. It is this development of both the relationship and the characters that drives the film rather than the actual plot and as this gathers momentum it becomes more engaging. As a result, the film is a little hard and quite slow to get into but improves considerably in the second half.

Whilst Leung and Cheng do have a lovable on-screen chemistry and some genuinely sweet moments together, director Ma (who also plays Deborah’s father and owner of dog with the temperamental bowels, Happy) allows too few of these scenes and too many with Choi’s bizarre dysfunctional family which perform more as an annoying irritation than a source of comedy, which was presumably their purpose. Niki Chow also works well as the beautiful but vacuous Mindy, whose selfish and manipulative ways threaten to become very destructive. Leung’s character remains reassuringly stable throughout the film as the affluent but down-to-earth guy whose character performs like an anchor to all the upheaval. Cheng’s character, Deborah, unfortunately makes the transition from total bitch to decent human being in implausibly quick time making this feel a little rushed and not particularly believable. Ma does portray the distant father/mildly unhappy home life as a catalyst for change and her shocked reaction at Choi’s affluent lifestyle in contrast to her own less fortunate one as a possible reason for her ruthless and cold business persona. However, this doesn’t quite work but the realisation of the growing bond and affection between the two does and is surprisingly engaging. Comedic moments are pretty thin on the ground but the cruel anti-romance of a scene involving a diamond bracelet did actually rather amuse me, but maybe that’s more an indication of my taste in romance than my taste in comedy.

Successful on some levels and disappointing on others, Fighting for Love is still worth a look if character driven romantic comedies are your thing.