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Tampering with destiny brings unexpected results, especially in films like this charmingly contrived confection from Canadian filmmaker Mina Shum (Double Happiness). In Vancouver’s chilly Chinatown, 12-year-old Mindy (Valerie Tian) dabbles in Taoist magic to help out her mom, Kin (Sandra Oh), a harried single mother juggling jobs to make ends meet. Literally employing smoke and mirrors, Mindy tries to help mom win the lottery and hook up romantically with a co-worker. But her spells intersect with the prayers and wishes of others in the community, including the local butcher Bing, who’s estranged from his father and his son, the golden-ager Shuck, who’s been laid off from his job as a security guard, and a sullen little boy who’s lost his turtle. Shum juggles the varied story lines with a light touch, and if the denouement is less magical than it is manufactured, the spell cast by the splendid Oh and the scrappy Tian suspends, if not disbelief, then at least disillusionment. (90 minutes.)
BY PETER KEOUGH
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