EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS (人人有份) DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS is the story of one people, one nation... When twenty-two people fall victim to a widespread bout of food poisoning, everyone- from the people on the street to the higher echelons of government office is asking "How?". John Lu, a hygiene inspector from the Ministry of National Environment is tasked with finding the answers. He traces the source of the contaminated food to an old-school coffee-shop run by the cantankerous Mr and Mrs Wong Fei and in the process uncovers an even larger national issue- dirty public toilets. John and his colleague Winston put in a report to the head of their department who realises that in order to overcome this problem, a new ministry must be formed. Thus, the Ministry of Toilets is formed, handling any business to do with Singaporeans' business- big business, small business, all business. However, it is through the collective experience of trying to achieve a common goal that everyone realises a simple truth- that nobody's job is really easy; that the grass is not always greener on the other side and that sometimes people shouldn't stop at just identifying a problem but also become part of a solution. Your Business...is Everybody's Business.

MOVIE REVIEW:

It’s hard to produce a good satire comedy let alone one that pokes fun at the rather delicate Singapore’s political scene.

From the creative minds of Jack Neo, Lee Thean-Jeen (Homecoming), Boris Boo (Phua Chu Kang the movie) and journalist Ng King Kang comes Everybody’s Business, a not-as-bad-as-you-initially-thought kind of local movie. Sure it has Lee at the helm but the flick sure has stamps of Jack Neo all over it. 

Bringing his fond of jabbing at social and political issues to another level, Everybody’s Business talks about the problems faced by government officers John Lu (Gurmit Singh) and Winston Lee (Mark Lee) who works at the newly setup Ministry Of Toilets after a major outbreak of a food poisoning case in a coffeeshop. Together with appointed Minister Kumari Kuppusamy (Kumar), the Ministry is in charge of handling Singaporean’s businesses in the most efficient and cleanest way. Encountering a pair of problematic coffee shop owners, Mr and Mrs Wong (Wang Lei and Liu Ling Ling), the officials realized it’s never easy to put words into actions and convinced the people on the ground.

In typical Neo fashion, the jokes usually consist of local hot topics that will appeal to the man on the street and with plenty of snappy Hokkien-peppered dialogs courtesy of Wang Lei, Liu Ling Ling and Marcus Chin, it sure make the exchanges far more interesting than it ought to be. There are plenty of exaggerated moments mostly a chance to showcase an endless slew of defecating and fart gags such as the bursting of a sewer, which caused massive toilet chokes islandwide. But still, there’s never a dull moment and amidst all the silliness causes one to laugh and reflect at oneself.

Gurmit and Mark pairs up again after Taxi! Taxi! and their chemistry is undeniable. Kumar, Singapore’s best know drag queen deserves more screentime in his role as Minister. Liu Ling Ling and Wang Lei practically chew up the screen whenever the two is together. In short, while Everybody’s Business is merely a touch-and-go exercise on the local politics arena, it generates enough fun for a single viewing. The older folks might relish it because of Ling and Lei. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The DVD comes with a Music Video and Trailer

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The audio aspect is serviceable and the visual as good as a TV feature. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee