SYNOPSIS: After her deadbeat father jumps bail and mysteriously disappears, 17-year-old Ree Dolly must find a way to track him down or she'll be left without a home or custody of her two young siblings. To avoid losing everything, Ree must hack through the lies and threats looming everywhere in her rural town to piece together the dangerous truth about her father - without getting herself killed - in this taut, pulse-pounding thriller.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Who would have thought a drama thriller about a girl hunting down her father’s whereabouts would gather so much critical acclaim? Who would have thought a relatively unknown Kentucky born girl would become the centre of attention after starring in an American independent movie? Who would have thought that a seemingly grim movie set in the cold and bleak Ozarks would offer so much hope?
This Sundance hit stars Jennifer Lawrence as a steadfast daughter who hacks through the dangerous mountainous terrain of Ozark to locate her drug dealing father. As if the treacherous surroundings aren’t a peril to the young girl, she has to constantly keep her poor family intact, making sure her siblings are provided with food and shelter, and are aught basic survival skills.
Based on Daniel Woodrell’s novel of the same name, director Debra Granik pens a screenplay with co writer Anne Rosellini which illustrates the unswerving character of the protagonist. The story may not be groundbreaking material, but it is treated with utmost authenticity and genuineness, which results in an affectingly engaging film that keeps its audiences caring for the characters throughout the film’s 100 minute runtime.
After clinching the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film and the Best Screenplay Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, the film caught the attention in the international film circuit, nabbing accolades at other festivals like the Berlin Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards. The film also garnered four nominations at the Academy Awards. Perhaps, the greatest recognition came in the form of an Oscar Best Actress nomination for 20 year old Lawrence.
The former cheerleader delivers a perfect performance as a daughter who will stop at nothing to maintain her family’s integrity. The journey she takes through the hilly landscapes may be a hazardous one, but the character’s strong will power shines through the forbidding and gloomy cinematography by Michael McDonough, making her one of the most respectable personalities we’ve seen so far.
Lawrence’s superb performance is supported by an equally outstanding cast which includes John Hawkes as her drug addict uncle (his unflinching performance has also garnered several nominations, including one for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars), Garret Dillahunt as a steadfast sheriff, and William White as an unscrupulous crime boss. The ensemble cast brings this chilling yet promising tale to life. As the film ends with our heroine assuring her younger brother and sister that she will never leave them, you feel the tenderness and hope that can only be felt through a good storyteller’s film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There is nothing to complain about the visual transfer of the movie. It is presented in its original English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
The Marvel superhero who shoots spider webs won’t grace our screens until next year, when Andrew Garfield breathes life into the franchise as The Amazing Spider-Man. Meanwhile, somewhere on Broadway, the costumed crime fighter is singing his heart out as he deals with the struggles of adolescence while trying to save the world from baddies.
What, a crooning Spider-Man? No, you are not hearing things as Peter Parker sings “If I can use a single thread to cross the sky/ Then why is the eye of the needle still your heart tonight/ See how the boy falls from the sky”.
Yes, if there’s one superhero who should stage a musical to chronicle the emotional origin and his battles with evil villains, it has to be Spider-man.
The 51 minute album is an original cast recording of the rock musical which premiered on Broadway earlier in June. With music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge and a book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger and Roberto Aguirre Sacasa, the musical tells the story of how Peter Parker became the web slinger, his romance with Mary Jane and how he keeps baddie Green Goblin off the streets.
After a rollicking “NY Debut” (you can almost imagine The Edge strumming his guitar on stage), you hear Reeve Carney perform “Boy Falls From The Sky” with his raspy voice. 28 year old Carney, an American singer songwriter and actor, plays the titular role in this expensive production. His soaring vocals exude a rocker attitude that is both boyish and manly, which are apt for the role.
The standout track on the disc is “Rise Above 2” performed by Carney, Jennifer Damiano (Mary Jane) and TV Carpio (Arachne, a great mortal weaver based on Greek mythologies). Its dramatically written lyrics (“For every heart that bleeds/ Will colour your world red/ And the sorrow in the night/ Will be the blue you cannot shed”) complement the artistes’ rich vocals. The operatic score orchestration also ups the emotional factor of the tune. A single version performed by Carney is also included on the album.
Fans of traditional musical tunes will enjoy other emotionally affecting tracks include “I Just Can’t Walk Away (Say It Now)”, “No More” and “Turn Off The Dark”. Elsewhere, cues like “Bouncing Off Walls”, “DIY World” and “A Freak Like Me Needs Company” mirror the highly technical stunts (the production features actors swinging from webs and exciting aerial combats) showcased in the musical.
While this album only includes a selection of songs from the musical, it is enough to whet your appetite, hoping that Spider-Man would swing his way onto a local theatre stage soon.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (13) Rise Above 2
Review by John Li
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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART TWO is top-earning film of 2011Posted on 09 Aug 2011 |
Genre: Musical
Director: Craig Brewer
Cast: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Andie MacDowell, Dennis Quaid
RunTime: 1 hr 54 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Official Website: http://www.footloosemovie.com/en_us/
Opening Day: 27 October 2011
Synopsis: Writer/Director Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow,” “Black Snake Moan”) delivers a new take of the beloved 1984 classic film, “Footloose.” Ren MacCormack (played by newcomer Kenny Wormald) is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where he experiences a heavy dose of culture shock. A few years prior, the community was rocked by a tragic accident that killed five teenagers after a night out and Bomont’s local councilmen and the beloved Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) responded by implementing ordinances that prohibit loud music and dancing. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) in the process.
Movie Review:
What’s the indie director of gritty pulp fare like ‘Hustle and Flow’ and ‘Black Snake Moan’ doing at the helm of a ‘80s teenage movie remake? Well frankly we were not quite sure till we caught his updated version of ‘Footloose’, and realised that director and co-writer Craig Brewer saw something much more within the original that went beyond the regular ‘Step Up’, ‘Stomp the Yard’ and ‘StreetDance’ modern-day teen-dance movies.
Like those films, ‘Footloose’ is about celebrating the spirit of youth through the freedom of movement, so expect the characters to speak passionately about how dancing isn’t just a frivolous activity, or worse still an act of rebellion against authority. But while these other films were simply content to wow their audiences with some spectacular dance moves, Brewer surprisingly places story and character front and centre, using dance only as a device to either.
Beginning with a toe-tapping prologue set to a hip-hop version of Kenny Loggins’ title tune, Brewer and his co-writer Dean Pitchford (who was behind the 1984 original) kicks things off with a literal bang when five teenagers are killed in a road accident after a night out partying and most importantly dancing. Among the dead is the son of Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid), a preacher in the small town of Bomont, who believes the act is a test from the Lord and exhorts the local community to put its young people under curfew and ban loud music and public dancing.
Even from these opening minutes, it is clear that Brewer’s writing possesses admirable finesse- and instead of the fire and brimstone we would expect from a caricatured depiction of a Southern preacher, we get the deeply personal words of Rev. Moore that ring with the agony and grief of a parent. Into this restrictive environment enters big-city kid Ren McCormick (newcomer Kenny Wormald), who has returned to stay with his aunt and uncle after burying his mother.
Ren’s first brush with the strictures of the town is getting fined for cranking the music in his yellow VW bug too loudly, and let’s just say that his reputation with the adult townsfolk just goes downhill from there. Those familiar with the original will start noticing the similarities between Brewer’s update and its source- the yellow VW for one, and also the Rev Moore’s rebellious daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) who is not quite the same after her brother’s death.
Exchanging tractors in the original for racecars, the modern-day Ariel still lives on the edge by dating a local racing lout Chuck (Patrick John Flueger), but is immediately drawn to Ren following a clandestine dance session at an outdoor movie theatre. Ren and Ariel’s mutual attraction fuels the tension at the heart of the story, first between Ren and Chuck as romantic rivals who duke it out in a dirt-track race using modified school buses, and then later between Ren and the Rev. Moore who sees Ariel’s errant ways as a result of Ren’s bad influence.
It takes a while for Brewer to set up these characters and their relationships, so expect the first hour- that also contains the jealous boyfriend element which kinda falls flat- to be less fleet-footed than you would expect. Nonetheless, the pace picks up considerably once Ren decides to start a petition to end the law against public dancing, which also puts him on a direct collision course with Rev. Moore. The dynamic between these two characters is especially interesting- one the father grieving over the loss of his son; and the other a son grieving over the loss of his mother- and a scene where they come to mutual understanding of their common circumstances is deeply poignant.
But Brewer doesn’t forget he’s making a commercial product, not one of his specialty films, so he hasn’t left out the obligatory comic relief that comes in the form of Ren’s awkwardly shy best buddy Willard (Miles Teller). Deserving of special mention, Teller delivers a charmingly goofy performance radically different from his last appearance in ‘Rabbit Hole’ that is about as endearing as it gets. The hilarity is fortunate, for the dance sequences, while well integrated into the flow of the story, are quite forgettable- even the 'angry dance’ replicated from the original by Ren at an abandoned warehouse after being wrongfully accused of drug possession. Choreographer Jamal Sims still makes these sequences look good onscreen, but there isn’t anything on display that will make you go ‘wow’.
Bland is also the same description that can be used with lead actor Wormald, who could very well do with a little more of the film’s own advice of cutting loose. Playing Ren all too straight-laced, there is too little of the brashness and insouciance in his performance that is required of his character. Hough fares much better, the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ alum absolutely luminous and sexy as Ariel in clothes so tight that ‘if you put a quarter in her back pocket you can tell whether it's heads or tails’. Still, Wormald and Hough have good chemistry together, both of them better dancers than they are actors.
Of course, given the uncharacteristically character-driven approach Brewer has taken with the material, one wishes for better lead actors to play Ren and Ariel. Yet there is still much to enjoy about this remake of a generation’s classic, which is a surprisingly solid movie with strong story and character elements. And though it is true his version veers closely to the original, it is clear that Brewer has taken great effort to craft a remake that pays homage to its source while introducing the ‘Footloose’ revolution to a new generation. It may not get to its feet as often as you would want it to, but its spirit of living out loud and cutting it loose is still very much alive.
Movie Rating:
(Hewing a little too slavishly close to the original, this remake is nonetheless a surprisingly character-driven drama that possesses the exuberant spirit of the 1984 classic)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action
Director: Michael Chuah
Cast: Michael Chuah, Henry Thia, Fiona Xie, Wang Xiao Chen
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 August 2011
Synopsis: FIST OF DRAGON tells the story of Li, who comes to South East Asia by the request of his father to help out his uncle who has been facing financial difficulties. Li, upon arriving in the town, feels out of place due to the differences in cultures of the people here. When he discovers that his uncle has been facing many hardships posed by the local mobsters, Li decides to stay and to help his uncle and get rid of them. However, Li encounters numerous resistances from the locals as Li's action brings the wrath of the triad and drags the whole town into turmoil. Moreover, his uncle's daughter, Lily is on the triad side, and their relationship is badly affected when the confrontation between the two groups reaches its peak.
Movie Review:
Here’s a definition of marketing we found online: A process used to determine what products may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development.
If you don’t already know, the words “From The Producer Of Ip Man 2” printed strategically (we suppose the effect of white text on a black background shouldn’t be overlooked either) on the poster of this action movie is what the distributor believes will be 'of interest to customers'. The distributor is probably hoping that viewers of the beloved Hong Kong movie starring everyone’s favourite Donnie Yen will also fork out money to watch this collaboration between Singapore and China.
For some of us, we believe that the marketing angle would be a certain Fiona Xie (notice how her name is placed in the centre of the three listed cast), who shocked us mere mortals by going MIA some two years back.
Xie plays a triad member, who, well, does nothing much except accompanying her gangster boyfriend to rough it out in gang fights. She is also on a quest to unravel the mystery behind her mother’s death. This is nothing compared to our hero of the movie, a nice young man from China who visits his uncle in a small Southeast Asian (from the accents of the locales, we are guessing that it’s Malaysia) town. There, he has to fight off the mobsters and get the town to unite against the evil doers.
Oh, somewhere in the not so original plot, there is apparently a horrifying scientific experiment involved – one that threatens to wipe out the entire town.
Just for that 'so ridiculous it’s good' portion of the movie where we poor kidnapped townsfolk froth at their mouths, we will not dump this production in the 'do not waste your time' category. In fact, we are going to list a few commendable aspects which may even have you considering giving this movie a chance.
1. Two words: Fiona Xie – Sure, Ms. Xie may not have delivered an award winning performance here, but who cares? Throughout her career, viewers (mostly male ones) have given her thumbs up not for her ability to act, but her lovely, err, figure. Although her bosoms are not on show here (nope, you are not going to see her run down the town in her bikini), her screen presence has a strange welcoming effect which no words can describe.
2. Henry Thia – We are familiar with the man’s fumbling ways, and how he is often given the obligatory goofy roles on TV and in movies. There is nothing new here, but looking at the other cast members’ dreadful acting, you may find Thia’s acting endearing. No kidding, Thia may be the best actor of the lot here.
3. Michael Chuah – The Malaysian takes on the role of the director, as well as the leading man for this 91 minute popcorn flick. He may not look like Donnie Yen (or have a hot bod which will leave girls swooning), but he sure knows his stuff when it comes to martial arts. There are a number of action sequences which sees the professionally trained actor engaging in some serious business, and these will prove that Chuah is the real stuff. Besides, how can you bear to fault him when he had to step in as the leading man after contractual conflicts forced the original lead to quit?
Movie Rating:
(Seriously, this fumbling action flick could have been worse)
Review by John Li
Despite the scathing reviews for Disney Pixar’s offering for this year’s summer blockbuster season, we are still pinning our hopes for the sequel to the movie that made Lightning McQueen a household name. We won’t be seeing the cars rev their engines till August, but here on our hands we have the film’s soundtrack album, and we are glad to announce it’s a pleasant collection of songs and score material that provides you with 63 minutes of good, clean enjoyment.
Academy Award winner Michael Giacchino (Up) takes over from randy Newman to score this sequel, and he has created a fun world of conspiracies and espionage as Lightning McQueen and his best bud Mater go on an international adventure involving trained spies and top secret missions.
The main theme is hard to miss here – it rings in your head from the first score cue “Turbo Transmission”. The impending bass and percussion is followed by a slick guitar solo which reminds you of the good old James Bond themes. When it gets to a soaring high with a full orchestra backup, you’d be indulged in uber coolness. Featuring the main theme again, “It’s Finn McMissile!” introduces us to the franchise’s new character voiced by Michael Caine, and it paints a suave and unruffled picture of the Brit thespian and his on screen personality.
In fact, the catchy main theme is repeated many times throughout the album in tracks like “Towkyo Takeout”, “Whose Engine Is This?” and “Blunder and Lightning”. If you are a sucker for bombastic main themes, then these cues will easily make it to the repeat mode category on your player.
Elsewhere, Giacchino adapts the theme for a more lighthearted mood in cues like the comedic “Mater the Waiter” to illustrate the character voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. The folksy “Radiator Reunion” is also another lightweight track which will soothe your senses.
While a substantial amount of the album focuses on adventure cues, “The Radiator Springs Gran Prix” features a fanfare like arrangement which takes listeners to the race tracks.
The songs presented on this album aren’t too bad either. American alternative rock band Weezer performs the cover of “You Might Think”, and sings to “Collision of Worlds” with Robbie Williams, while Country musician Brad Paisely contributes the radio friendly tune “Nobody’s Fool”.
As if that’s not enough, French songwriter and singer Bénabar performs the romantic Mon Coeur Fait Vroum (My Heart Goes Vroom) and Japanese girl group Perfume croons the guilty pleasure that is “Polyrhythm”. How’s that for going international?
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (7) It’s Finn McMissile!
Review by John Li
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15th Anniversary DVD: ARMY DAZE: The MoviePosted on 26 Jul 2011 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Seth Gordon
Cast: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Julie Bowen, Isaiah Mustafa, Donald Sutherland
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language And Sexual References)
Official Website: http://horriblebossesmovie.warnerbros.com/index.html
Opening Day: 4 August 2011
Synopsis: For Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston) into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con (Jamie Foxx), the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers... permanently. There's only one problem: even the best laid plans are only as foolproof as the brains behind them.
Movie Review:
You’ve either had a horrible boss, or you will meet one in future. That’s just the reality of life, isn’t it? But think about it- wouldn’t you wish that you could just get rid of him/her? Seth Gordon’s new comedy works perfectly as that kind of wish-fulfilment- in it, three hardworking employees who find themselves at the mercy of their horrible bosses decide to find a way to kill them. Ok it does sound a little extreme at first, but wait till you hear what their bosses are like.
Nick’s (Jason Bateman) boss is the cruel, sadistic and scheming Harken (Kevin Spacey chewing up the scenery) who nitpicks at him for arriving two minutes late for work one day than he usually does and offers him a drink in the morning before accusing him of being a drunk. All this so that he can have an excuse to keep the promotion Nick has been slogging for the past 8 years for himself.
His buddy Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant whose boss Dr Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) is a nymphomaniac constantly making sexual advances at him at work, and threatening to reveal incriminating photos she took of him while drugged to his fiancé (Lindsay Sloane) unless he has sex with her.
Not much better off is accountant Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) whose new supervisor Bobby Pellit (Colin Farrell) is a cocaine-snorting, martial artist-wannabe taking over from his recently deceased father (Donald Sutherland). The first day at work, Bobby tells Kurt to ‘trim the fat’ in the office by firing the fat people and the wheelchair-bound employee he calls ‘Professor X’.
Why don’t they just quit, you ask? Well, because it’s hard to find another job out there, especially given today’s economic climate. Neither do they wish to end up like a mutual friend (P.J. Bryne), who hasn’t been employed for two years following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and has since been reduced to hustling gay sex in bars to earn the quick buck.
So after first toying with the idea, Nick, Dale and Kurt decide to hire a hitman to assassinate their bosses. Following a bungled search on the ‘men seeking men’ page, the trio run into a gangster (Jamie Foxx) whose expletive name is one of the film’s running jokes- though said gangster turns out not to be a real assassin, but rather a ‘murder consultant’ whose advice to them turns out to be surprisingly effective.
While the eventual denouement of their despicable supervisors reveals some good plotting, the script by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (from a story by Markowitz) mostly adopts a loose structure throughout the film, relying as much on the actors to improvise on the set. Thankfully, Bateman, Sudeikis and Day (who have perfected their craft on TV sitcoms) are very much up to the task.
The trio are individually good in their respective roles- Bateman once again playing mild-mannered to a T; Sudeikis suitably upbeat and mischievous as the skirt-chasing ladies’ man; and Day stealing the show as the perpetually nervous character with a voice that changes key in tandem with his anxiety levels- but together, the rapport between them is excellent. Indeed, they share such well-coordinated comedic timing that you never for one second doubt their characters are best buddies.
They are also complimented by Spacey, Aniston and Farrell gleefully embracing their over-the-top supporting roles. Spacey reprises his ‘Swimming with Sharks’ boss-from-hell routine, but he is so deliciously snarky you won’t mind the reiteration. Aniston is amazingly game playing against type with a foul-mouthed, sexually aggressive character. Farrell also disappears into his snivelling character with his hunched-over posture and a ridiculous comb-over that rivals Tom Cruise’s transformation in ‘Tropic Thunder’.
And with such an outstanding cast, Gordon does what any sensible director would and leaves them up to their own devices. Nevertheless, like most Apatow films, the result of this is that the banter between the characters can sometimes drag on for a little too long before the punchline is reached. Still, in this instance, giving the talented cast freer rein to determine the pace of the movie works to bring out a more natural spontaneous form of humour that is refreshingly enjoyable.
Of course, there’s also the fact that it is deliberately raunchy and not afraid to go low (and we mean this literally) if there are laughs, cheap or otherwise, to be had. As odd as it may sound, this is a recession-themed ‘The Hangover’ raunch-com, and thanks to an excellent cast, all of us who have had that relatable experience of having a ‘horrible boss’ can indulge in that bit of wish-fulfilment to replace that frown with a smile (however devious) at the end of a workday or for that matter work-week.
Movie Rating:
(Thanks to some excellent performances from its ensemble cast, this raunch-com is gleefully hilarious wish-fulfilment)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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SMURFS CELEBRATE NATIONAL DAY WITH THE STARSPosted on 26 Jul 2011 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Chung Shu Kai
Cast: Eric Tsang, Wong Cho Lam, Fala Chen, Fiona Sit, Maggie Cheung, Johnson Lee, Louis Yuen, Lam Suet, Pauline Wong, Michael Tse
RunTime: 1 hr 33 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films & Clover Films
Rating: TBA
Official Website:
Opening Day: 11 August 2011
Synopsis: Lam Luk (starring Wong Cho-lam), Jit Sau (starring Johnson Lee), Fook Cheung (starring Louis Yuen) are laymen who do odd jobs for living. Luk proposes to his girlfriend, who readily accepts the proposal. However, his future father-in-law wants Luk to make the down payment of a flat to show his ‘sincerity’ of wanting to settle down. Five-hundred thousand dollars for the down payment, though not an obscene figure, it is still a huge amount for Luk. To pursue their dreams, the trio took up numerous jobs… Despite their attempts, they are nowhere near to their goal… out of desperation, the trio decides to busk at Mongkok’s Sai Yeung Choi Street by performing ‘the impossible’ of Wrestling on Concrete! Fook, Luk and Sau’s entertaining performance gets increasingly popular. During one of their performances, a foreigner came up to the trio and insisted on a match, which the trio won by surprise! Little did they expect, this surprise win will bring them a challenge of their lifetime…
Movie Review:
Besides the EU spinoff ‘Turning Point’, the recently revived Shaw Brothers and TVB production shingle have specialised in slapstick comedies centred around real-life circumstances facing the average Hong Kong citizen. Thematically therefore, their latest film ‘The Fortune Buddies’ bears many similarities to their Chinese New Year offerings ’72 Tenants of Prosperity’ and ‘I Love Hong Kong’- in fact, director Chung Shu Kai is behind all three films, and this bears the trademark madcap humour of his earlier two.
But repetition isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself, especially if it is as laugh-out-loud hilarious as ‘The Fortune Buddies’. Indeed, the film, named after its trio of male stars who have shot in fame of late as the ‘Fuk Luk Sau’ or ‘Fortune Buddies’ in English, is great jaunty fun and boasts an irrepressible verve that will keep you entertained from start to finish- even though the script by Chung and Wong Yeung-Tat does wear thin especially towards the finish.
Much of the film’s jolly energy comes from the charismatic ‘Fuk Luk Sau’ trio of Wong Cho-Lam, Louis Yuen and Johnson Lee. Their collaboration originated from a variety show with the grand dame Liza Wang called ‘Liza and the Three Gods’, but their popularity has since skyrocketed thanks to their cross-dressing showmanship. Anyhow, this movie marks the first time that they are teaming up outside of variety shows and concerts, and it is ample proof that the trio have plenty of talent outside of singing, dancing and cross-dressing.
In the film, Wong, Louis and Johnson are three bosom out-of-work buddies Lam Luk, Fook Cheung and Jit Sau who unite to help Lam raise $500,000 in order that he be able to marry his long-time girlfriend (Fiona Sit)- a condition set by his practical soon-to-be father-in-law (Eric Tsang). A string of odd jobs and amusing gags ensue as they ham it up as property agents, security guards, drivers and part-time actors- in particular, the latter which sees them as ‘extras’ in the filming of a Michael Tse (aka ‘Laughing Gor’) drama and bungling their roles on the set is simply uproarious.
Of course, true to their origin, the ‘Fuk Luk Sau’ trio also take to the busy Mongkok streets to put up a cross-dressing performance in plain sight- and we admit that this being the first time we have seen them in drag, the results are pretty entertaining. Eventually, they stumble upon accidental fame as amateur wrestlers entertaining the crowds along Sai Yeung Choi Street- though a run-in with a renowned wrestler from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) turns their phony wrestling performances deadly serious.
But before we get there, Chung mines the trio’s perfect comedic timing for some downright hilarious slapstick gags which left us in stitches. In fact, the ‘Fuk Luk Sau’ reminds us of another popular trio in the 1970s and 1980s that also made its fortune in side-splitting farces playing ordinary Hong Kong folk. If you haven’t already guessed it, we’re referring to the Hui brothers- and it is truly to Wong, Louis and Johnson’s credit that their team effort is as good as the classic bunch of Michael, Sam and Ricky Hui.
Unfortunately, their charisma isn’t quite enough to distract from the patchiness of the storytelling, which is particularly apparent towards the last third of the film when their characters are pitted in a wrestling challenge against the WWE wrestling team. There are clear allusions here to the award-winning ‘Gallants’, but Chung decides to exploit the finale as an East-versus-West contest not unlike the ‘Ip Man’ movies. It is strangely anachronistic to say the least, and this clumsiness on the way to the obligatory happily-ever-after ending is made only clearer because of the film’s melodramatic tendencies.
Nonetheless you’re still likely to leave with a big smile on your face- thanks to the amusing turns by the ‘Fuk Kuk Sau’ trio, as well as a bevy of TVB stars who lend their star power in cameos that poke fun at some memorable performance in their respective filmographies. Some comic references specific to the Hong Kong people will likely be lost on a foreign audience, but the good-intentioned message of perseverance and hope amidst the tough economic and employment climate still rings out loud and clear.
So too the amusing physical and verbal gags, performed with zany comic energy from the ‘Fuk Luk Sau’ trio to great slapstick effect. Sure, ‘The Fortune Buddies’ is just as uneven as ’72 Tenants’ and ‘I Love Hong Kong’, but it also has bits that rival the humour in those two films, harkening back to the Hui classics like ‘Games Gamblers Play’ (鬼馬雙星), ‘The Last Message’ (天才與白痴) and ‘The Contract’ (賣身契). Bottom line, this is great fun and great entertainment that will tickle your funny bone silly.
Movie Rating:.
(Madcap slapstick humour done classic Hong Kong comedy style!)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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