Shanghai Kiss

Heroes hottie Hayden Panettiere appears on the DVD cover, posed as if she were bouncing through an inane romantic comedy, but nothing could be further from the truth, as Shanghai Kiss is actually a smart, shrewd coming-of-age drama. It's not Panettiere's 16-year-old high-schooler who needs to do some growing up, but rather her friend Liam Liu (Ken Leung), a 28-year-old gadabout who's not only struggling as a would-be actor, but also as a young man caught between two cultures. In Los Angeles, Liam is pegged as Chinese, but in Shanghai—to which he travels after a grandmother bequeaths him her house—he's singled out as American. The romance here is more about Liam discovering himself, and even maybe liking who he actually turns out to be. Chinese-American screenwriter David Ren, a first-time filmmaker who co-directs here with Emmy-winner Kern Konwiser, is clearly working through some close-to-home issues, but seldom has “write what you know” resulted in a film as wise and melancholy, not to mention entirely free of self-indulgence, self-pity, or cutesy self-deprecation. Leung won a Special Jury Prize at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival for his breakout performance, while Panettiere won Best Actress at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary with the filmmakers, a “making-of” featurette, cast and crew interviews, and deleted scenes. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (M. Johanson)