Gorgeous is a 1999 Romantic-Comedy-Action-Drama starring Jackie Chan, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Shu Qi (who would later star in So Close), and its notably Jackie Chan's attempt at starring in a romantic role for once. Though, Chan being Chan, there's still plenty of action scenes to satisfy his usual legion of kung-fu aficionado fans.
Ah Bu (Shu Qi) lives in a Taiwanese fishing village and has always dreamt of the man of her life, so when she finds a message in a bottle that says "I am waiting for you", of course this wide-eyed town girl immediately leaves Taiwan for Hong Kong in pursuit of true love. However, when Albert (Tony Leung), the man of her dreams isn't who he seems, Bu prepares to head home until she meets Chan (Jackie Chan), at the time being pursued by his enemies, and from her speedboat she quickly pulls him up and helps him escape from his pursuers. Thus begins an unlikely love story.
Fun fact: Jackie Chan, for a long time, has been interested in acting in non-action drama films, but was discouraged by Golden Harvest's producer and Chan's godfather, Leonard Ho. After Chan's departure from Golden Harvest studios, he immediately took the chance to try something new, which is this film.
This film was also Jackie's first Hong Kong film after going to Hollywood (Rush Hour was released the previous year, 1998).
Gorgeous provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Tony Leung playing a gay man? Surely not... oh.
- All the Good Men Are Gay: Unfortunately for Bu, who had travelled all the way from Taiwan to Hong Kong, it turns out Albert, the "perfect" man of her dreams, is gay.
- Arrogant Kungfu Guy: Alan is not only here to challenge Chan, a former champion fighter, but to do it while in a way that clearly shows his superiority by being a weight-class lighter than Chan and wearing heavier gloves.
- Butt-Monkey: Bu’s close friend and Secret Admirer, Long Yi, who is accident prone as hell, from getting conned on his first day in Hong Kong, losing his way while trying to find Bu, getting flung into a pier and nearly arrested. But in the end of the film its revealed that Long and Albert have decided to become a gay couple together, so it’s not all bad …
- Boxing Battler: Chan’s final opponent, Alan (played by Brad Allen), who favors boxing as his fighting skill. In fact, he’s shown wearing boxing gloves and throws a pair to Chan before their first fight, and their final battle had both men duke it out in a boxing match in a recycling plant.
- Close-Knit Community: The fishing village Bu calls home.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: For the two big one-on-one fights, Chan is dressed in white, while Alan is in black.
- Convenient Escape Boat: Chan, after diving to escape from Howie Lo’s cruiser, ends up being dragged into a speedboat driven by Bu which is just passing by. All this inevitably leads to their Love at First Sight.
- Cucumber Facial: Played for laughs, Albert is shown doing a cucumber, tomato, starfruit, carrot and strawberry facial.
- Dance Battler: Chan, in an attempt to combat Alan’s fighting moves, eventually learns this skill, and during their rematch, uses dancing moves to subdue and disorientate Alan, eventually taking him down with a ballet move. Its as hilarious as it sounds
. - Dancing with Myself: Bu does a tap-dance by herself after falling for Chan.
- Fanservice: Albert’s job is a photographer for a swimsuit magazine, and two scenes with him on a yacht features loads and loads of Fanservice Extra beautiful ladies in bikinis and swimsuits.
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: One of Bu’s friends in her rural village town is a dolphin that occasionally surfaces to " talk" to her. And later Chan is shown to have pet dolphins in his private pool, much to Bu’s delight.
- Genre Mashup: Action, romance, drama, comedy, all in one.
- Girlish Pigtails: Bu’s standard hairstyle.
- Message in a Bottle: The plot is kicked off when Bu finds a floating glass bottle containing a message from Albert, who’s looking for true love, which she then decides to leave her hometown and find the writer of the message.
- Nixon Mask: One of the few action scenes in this film is Chan fighting off a group of punks wearing rubber masks resembling Presidents while swinging metal bats at him.
- Oddball in the Series: Oh look guys, a Jackie Chan-starring kung-fu martial arts romance film!
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Alan is half a head shorter and a weight-class lighter than Chan, but hits with just about as much power.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Bu really enjoys walking around barefoot. It's probably because of her being from a quaint little fishing village.
- Rescue Romance: How Chan and Bu first met, with her pulling him out of water after he escaped from Howie's cruiser.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Bu wears a sleek, light blue gown with only one sleeve on her dinner date with Chan. Its probably the first time she gets to wear a formal and lavish dress like this, given how gleeful she is depicted in that scene.
- Technician vs. Performer: Alan is more the straightforward, scientific, technical fighter, while Chan uses flashier moves.
- Training Montage: Chan training himself to become stronger for his rematch with Alan, with Bu encouraging him at all times so this also becomes a Falling-in-Love Montage.
- Underwater Kiss: Nearly happens between Chan and Bu while they’re training in Chan’s massive personal swimming pool. But they hold off and decide against doing so when Chan noticed his pet dolphins are watching them making out underwater.
