SYNOPSIS:
Bao
(Stephy Tang) starts a dessert shop with her longtime boyfriend
Jun after graduation, and plans to get married. But her dream
is shattered when her old classmate Kei (Alice Zeng) shows up
and snatches Jun from her. Losing both her love and the shop,
Bao bumps into her old neighbour, Qiang (Alex Fong), a con artist,
and engages him to cheat Kei for revenge.
MOVIE REVIEW:
On many counts, L for Love L for Lies is another
in the line of Hong Kong’s teenybopper movies. But director
Patrick Kong’s latest is less a comedy than a drama,
less fluffy, forgettable entertainment than heartfelt, touching
lessons on love.
Riding
on the success of his previous Love Is Not All Around, director
Kong again assembles a young, fresh teenage cast playing a
myriad of characters whose love lives intertwine over the
course of the movie. Two of the most notable of these actors
are Alex Fong and Stephy Tang. Both are popular singers in
Hong Kong, and both have used their singing careers to launch
into acting with varying success.
Indeed,
L for Love L for Lies represents one of the better, if not
the best, performances in both Alex Fong and Stephy Tang’s
acting careers. In particular, Stephy Tang uses her sweet,
but never saccharine, appeal to great effect as a jilted lover,
and one cannot help but sympathize for her character’s
plight in the movie. Alex Fong’s conman is one of the
darker, more dramatic roles he has played. Save for a scene
where he gives an emotional rant, he delivers a commendable
performance here. The rest of the supporting cast are also
nothing short of watchable, and in a more dramatic movie such
as this, is in fact admirable given that they do act, instead
of simply acting cute.
For
writer-director Kong, L for Love L for Lies is a definitive
improvement over Love Is Not All Around. Here Kong shows that
he has a firm grasp of the intertwining stories, as well as
the myriad characters. He chooses to tell the story in a nonlinear
fashion, and it is to his credit that his approach is consistently
intriguing and engaging to watch instead of descending into
a garbled mess. Kong’s signature nuggets of wisdom on
love are still present in L for Love L for Lies, but a more
deft hand here gives the characters delivering them more clout.
Still,
like its predecessor, L for Love L for Lies is marred by a
multiple twist ending syndrome. I’ll not give anything
away here but only to warn you that the film takes a more
dramatic turn that borders a little on credibility. As if
that is not enough, Kong ends the movie on a final twist ending
that, in my opinion, is quite unbelievable and in fact, unnecessary.
Nevertheless,
L for Love L for Lies is probably one of the better Hong Kong
movies that have been released this year. Subverting the stereotypical
teenage fluffy romantic comedies, it strives to be a mediation
on the many lessons of love that young 20-ers realistically
face. In this regard, it is definitely entertaining and watchable,
a promising step-up for both its young writer-director as
well as its cast.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Nil.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
As with many other direct to video Hong Kong movies releases
from Scorpio East, this comes with dual audio tracks- Mandarin
and Cantonese. Picture quality is decent though not as pristine
as I had hoped. Subtitles are not burnt in, and are available
in both English and Mandarin, so you have to activate them
yourself.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
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