Lunch with Charles (2000)

Genres - Drama, Romance, Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Marriage Drama, Psychological Drama  |   Run Time - 109 min.  |   Countries - Canada  |   MPAA Rating - NR
  • AllMovie Rating
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Mark Deming

Tong (Sean Lau) is a struggling Hong Kong musician who half-heartedly sells real estate in his spare time. Tong is married, but for the past three years, his wife, April (Theresa Lee), has been living in Canada, where she works as a publicist for a music management firm in Vancouver and waits for her husband to work up the ambition to join her. While April has been faithful to Tong, he's certain temptation lurks around every corner, and in time he finally decides to bite the bullet and head to Vancouver. However, Tong's timing turns out to be a bit off; April and her assistant (Francoise Yip) are working with the owner of an Irish brewery (Tom Scholte) to sign an up-and-coming Celtic rock band to an endorsement and sponsorship deal, and April has headed out on the road to track down the band. Tong loses April's trail while trying to catch up with her, and ends up spending the night at a bed and breakfast operated by a married couple, Matthew (Nicholas Lea) and Natasha (Bif Naked). When Tong tries to explain his dilemma to his hosts, he discovers that Natasha used to be the lead singer of the rock band April is trying to flag down; as fate would have it, the group's manager soon calls with a firm offer to rejoin the band, and soon all parties are headed for Alberta, where everyone is to take a meeting with a wheeler and dealer named Charles. However, as Tong and Natasha make the long drive to Lake Louise together, he finds his fidelity to April challenged for the first time. Lunch With Charles was the first feature film co-produced by firms from Canada and Hong Kong; it also marked the dramatic debut of pop singer Bif Naked.

Characteristics