Donnie Yen in "Together"
Prepping a romantic comedy with big name stars for a Valentine’s Day release is not just a Hollywood strategy. The Chinese-language romantic film Together is set to hit theaters overseas in time for the February holiday. The movie features young actors Ko Chen Tung and Michelle Chen, who made a box office splash in 2011’s You Are the Apple of My Eye. The big surprise? Donnie Yen also plays a part in Together and he won’t be busting out his famous martial arts moves for the role.
Donnie’s transition to romantic leading man shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. In 2011’s All’s Well Ends Well 2011, Yen stretched his comedic chops by making fun of his tough guy persona. The film was reviewed as your typical slapstick Hong Kong comedy but most critics singled out Yen’s self-deprecating performance as a highlight.
Donnie has made no secret of the fact that he’s nearing his 50th birthday and won’t be making stunt-filled action pictures forever. By emphasizing the dramatic content as much as the action in recent films like Wu Xia, and dabbling in comedies and romantic pictures such as Together, Donnie is likely trying to branch out of his action star image and age gracefully into other kinds of roles. Only time will tell if audiences are willing to accept Donnie Yen in movies where he doesn’t have to fight ten opponents at once.
