One of the precious few movies that Wong Kar-wai has produced for another filmmaker in the last 20 years, Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya’s “One for the Road” is a syrupy glob of romantic melodrama that has as much in common with the likes of “The Bucket List” and “Elizabethtown” as it does with the lovelorn poetry of “2046” or “Chungking Express.” Despite his art-house cachet, Wong’s producing credits have always tended to fall on the commercial side of the fence.Anyone familiar with Poonpiriya’s “Bad Genius” won’t be surprised to find that the director’s follow-up fizzes with the same pop sensibility that made his high-school heist thriller the most internationally successful Thai film ever, and afforded him this chance to make something more personal.
To his credit, it does feel personal, even (or perhaps especially) as it speeds over a few potholes of forced schmaltz.
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