Leo Ku was a television presenter before he was spotted by a talent scout, and before we know it, he started churning out albums and films. However, his clean-cut image means that he is forever typecast in romantic comedy films, which is a good thing really - as we don't want him wandering into other genres, do we?

When I look upon the stars is a classic tale of the love triangle beset with the usual problems of self-righteousness and guilt. Kei (Leo Ku) is a product designer who works in Shenzhen. He misses his girlfriend June (Anita Chan) terribly, so he decides to take a short vacation to Japan to visit her.

June is studying in Japan as part of a degree course, and works part-time in a convenience store. She constantly sees Sam (Sam Lee), who is working as an illustrator, and is the best friend of Kei's. Needless to say, June and Sam have developed a strong feeling towards each other, but Sam has always been involved with other girls (notably of the local kind), and June has been reluctant to start a relationship with such an unreliable sex-craved miscreant.

When Kei arrives in Tokyo, June realises to her surprise that she has fallen out of love with him (they have been together for the past six years), and that she is frequently thinking of Sam instead. Kei suspects nothing, but when June tells him about her feelings towards Sam, Kei obviously becomes heartbroken.

Then the plot veers into familiar territory as we see a miserable Kei wandering round the streets of Toyko with nothing but a broken heart, the loss of his girlfriend and best friend. He finds solace in a coffee shop, where a happy go-lucky girl gives him comfort in his hour of need. The girl, called Kiki (Shu Qi), is an aspiring model, and she soon falls in love with the handsome Kei.

The predictable plot means that you can guess what's going to happen: Kei later returns to his office back in Shenzhen, and after a while, he realises that he indeed does love Kiki, and thus, returns to Tokyo to find her. It takes a bit of time, but he finally finds her, and they all live happily ever after.

This is just another one of those run-of-the-mill love stories that we have seen countless of times. The classic boy loses girl to his best mate, finds love and happiness with another girl plot that have been done before with much better results than this. Even the somewhat different setting of urban Japan fails to give this turkey a better flavouring. The bland characters, cringe-worthy dialogue, and poor script adds to the detriment of the story.

There is no originality, no hilarious moments, no truly inspiring set-pieces, and no tear-jerking sadness. All love stories should have real sad moments, but there is none in the film. We should feel for Kei, and feel sad that he has lost his girlfriend to his best friend. But because there was no chemistry (and history) between Kei and June before, we just couldn't emote to either.

Even the cameo by Eric Tsang, as Kei's boss, couldn't enliven the proceedings. Leo Ku played his character dead serious, and came across too wooden for my taste. Shu Qi was annoying as hell, but at least she gave life to the project. Sam Lee was better, with most of the funny moments, but Anita Chan turned out as damp as a wet fish.

Overall, I'd give this a miss.