It's difficult to see how Lavender has made itself different to any other 'angel from heaven' romantic comedy. Ok, we may add a little bit of 'Chocolat' in it with Kelly Chen playing an aromatherapist just to spice things up a bit, but ultimately, it follows an all too familiar script.

Kelly Chen plays Athena, an aromatherapist whose boyfriend died in training for the SWAT team. Takeshi Kaneshiro plays Angel, an angel (surprise!) who falls through the roof of her apartment after being caught in a storm. Injured and only being able to survive through being loved, he learns about the human world while he recovers. Throw in Chow Chow (played by Eason Chan),a gay ex- lover of Athena's ex-boyfriend, and you have yourself enough twists to make a tightly plaited rope.

Whilst most of the story follows the motorway, occasionally, there are a few witty moments, which are quite touching. You wouldn't say that Lavender was funny, though. Witty is probably just the word for it.

Kaneshiro does an excellent job of playing Angel, and from the few movies I have seen, he is quite a talented actor. Chen graces our screen, and given that she hasn't dabbled in acting much, I do think she's done well and is one to look out for. However, the lack of on-screen chemistry between the two is missing from the film, and that is a shame because overall, the film is fairly good.

My eyes are still swollen from crying during the last thirty minutes of the film. The lighting was great, I enjoyed the performances and it makes you wonder about the beauty of it all. I will keep my eye on this director and I will look for his previous and future films.

The movie is another cool romantic story starring the beautiful Kelly Chen. Although I enjoyed "and I hate you so" more, "lavender" is still an interesting and loveable romantic comedy that you will enjoy. If anything, the movie makes you wonder if it will be the typical angel movie that you have seen over and over again. What makes this movie so interesting is you have an angel who is trying to learn the ways of humans and the person he comes to help is Athena, an aroma therapist who lost her love one and is trying to recreate his "scent". Next door is Chow Chow, a gay man who was in love with Athena's deceased boyfriend. Now comes Angel into the lives of Athena and Chow Chow and things get very interesting because the only way he can survive in Earth is through love. Athena has no love to give because she's depressed and still missing her deceased love and Chow Chow shows Angel what love is by taking him to gay bars and telling him to become an erotic dancer and show him how women love it. It may sound a little corny but if there is one thing that I learned from most Kelly Chen and Kaneshiro Takeshi films is that they are good and I have never really left feeling dissatisfied after watching their movies.

Also important to mention is the music again from the film. Like "and i hate you so", the movie is beautiful and enhances the film. If there was one problem was one scene where the music suddenly cuts off. I blame that on post-production and editing. Otherwise, the movie can ended in somewhat of satisfying but leave you feeling with an "is that it?" but fortunately when you think the movie is over, the true ending of the film comes around and you are left feeling satisfied.