Shanghai Calling
  • Release Date:
Shanghai Calling Image
See the trailer
Metascore
45

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.0

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: In this romantic comedy, an ambitious New York attorney is sent to Shanghai where he quickly finds himself in a legal mess that threatens his career, but with the help of a beautiful relocation specialist and her contacts, he soon learns to appreciate the wonders of Shanghai.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 3 out of 9
  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    Feb 12, 2013
    75
    As for the story, it's in some ways inevitable, but it has enough barbs and curves to keep it new. The smartest touch is that the young lawyer is, as a moral entity, a work in progress.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Andy Webster
    Feb 14, 2013
    70
    Though Mr. Hsia, a television alumnus who also wrote the script, has created a somewhat predictable story infused with stereotypes old and new, he gains mileage from light humor, buoyant energy and some appealing performers.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    Feb 14, 2013
    60
    Hsia has an appealingly slick visual style for the fast-paced if predictable turns in Sam's story, shooting the gleaming, bustling Shanghai as if it had finally earned its big-Hollywood-romantic-comedy stripes as a setting for the usual fish-out-of-water jokes, broad humor, meet-cutes, silly coincidences and happy endings.
  4. New York Observer
    Reviewed by: Rex Reed
    Feb 12, 2013
    50
    As the narrative builds, the movie shows how the harassed and impatient Chinese-American finds tolerance, acceptance of others, inner salvation and love. A lot for one movie to negotiate, not always successfully, but the enjoyment factor is obvious.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    Feb 15, 2013
    40
    The movie wants to say something significant about the excitement and alienation of life in a strange — which is to say, new — place. The film never gets there, but its aims are honorable, and the lovingly shot Shanghai scenery does enhance the trip.
  6. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Kenji Fujishima
    Feb 13, 2013
    38
    If you prefer your social commentary in the form of a glorified sitcom with broad humor and even broader caricatures, look no further.
  7. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Matt Singer
    Feb 12, 2013
    20
    Through it all, Henney is an appealing screen presence, but he’s trapped in a movie that puts regurgitated sitcom shtick and regional economic boosterism ahead of character and humor.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of

Trailers

Current Movie Releases

Full List »
96 Gravity
83 Captain Phillips
81 The World's End
75 Rush
74 Prisoners
72 The Grandmaster
66 Lee Daniels' The Butler
66 Don Jon
66 You're Next
61 Metallica: Through the Never
55 Instructions Not Included
49 Riddick
44 The Family
44 Jobs
41 Machete Kills
41 Kick-Ass 2
40 Insidious: Chapter 2
36 Runner Runner
33 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
22 Getaway
All Current Movies »