Genre: Comedy Director: Boris Boo Cast: Gurmit Singh, Irene Ang, Neo Swee Lin,
Henry Thia, Lim Kay Siu RunTime: 1 hr 39 mins Released By: GV & Scorpio East Pictures Rating: PG Official Website: http://www.pckthemovie.com/
Opening
Day: 12 Aug 2010
Synopsis:
Phua
Chu Kang is back and kicking into the big screens! The movie
depicts how Phua Chu Kang has been making a mark for himself
in Malaysia. Ah Ma came to visit but went missing in an instant.
Phua Chu Kang eventually tracks her down in an old folks home
and accidentally got himself a renovation job. All comes to
a screeching halt when he discovers the real reason behind
Ah Ma¡'s strange insistence to help some old folks at
the home who are dropping dead one by one.
Movie Review:
It's still pretty amazing how a caricature amongst a group
of caricatures from Gurmit's World can gain enough popularity
to warrant his own television series in a prime time slot,
then proceed to become iconic enough with his Singlish catchphrases
to feature in an American reality television episode, and
now making a quantum leap to the silver screen. How times
have grown for Phua Chu Kang, and Gurmit Singh of course,
propelling him to stardom unimaginable when he first started
out.
While PCK Pte Ltd had disappeared from our local screens,
the best in Singapore, JB and some say Batam had found a new
lease of life up north in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, spreading
his wings to set up PCK Sdn Bhd and surprise, has been tickling
the funny bones of our friends up north, to some success as
well. Naturally the feature film sees no less than four Malaysian
companies involved in its production having bought into its
potential, and continuing the trend in most of the commercial
films released in Singapore this year, it seems these co-productions
are the way to go for access to a larger audience.
Directed by Boris Boo, who last had a joint stint with Jack
Neo in the horror comedy Where Got Ghost?, I am starting to
detect a continued Jack Neo-ish style permeating through to
local films which are trying hard to fill the gap left behind
by Jack, by subconsciously employing similar styles after
what would arguably be Singapore's most successful contemporary
director in terms of box office receipts. Things like little
skits being jointed together to form a feature film, the injection
of multiple languages not just to highlight our rich cultural
diversity, but rather Hokkien as a language of choice. After
all, PCK is a Chinese Ah-Beng contractor who should be comfortable
in using his lingua franca, especially since rules for Television
broadcast here have set strict guidelines on language grammar.
And not to forget the many blatant product placement which
feature prominently in the film at multiple points, with some
being part of the backdrop, while others, like a paint company,
enjoying a totally needless, unfunny scene being crafted around
its shop, and mentioned in what would be pro-product dialogue.
This naturally makes it very jarring to watch, since you're
unsure if you're watching a commercial, or that SM Ong, the
writer of the story, has something serious to say about the
products featured.
And like a typical Neo fashioned comedy, there will be characters,
scenes and situations which are reflective of the latest hot
topics in town, here drawing upon the charity donations saga
about misused funds, of filial piety and about the younger
generation's attitude toward the aged, money-draining charity
shows, and corrupt head honchos who are fuzzy and warm on
the outside, but utterly dirty and scheming on the inside.
But you still have to give the story and scriptwriters credit
in getting creative with the setting, because having to relocate
to KL, and setting the entire film there, means the narrative
can do away with PCK's brother Phua Chu Beng, his wife Margaret,
and the kids, putting focus instead on Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh)
and his vain wife Rosie (Irene Ang), both of whom are really
comfortable in their roles like hand in glove, bringing back
familiar faces like Ah Ma (Neo Swee Lin) and PCK arch-rival
Frankie Foo (Lim Kay Siu). Henry Thia's filmography has grown
this year, and now adds PCK under his belt with his portrayal
of Lim Lau Pek, the slimy CEO of Siao Soon old folks home
who has the hots for Rosie (don't ask).
The star of the show, in my opinion, happens to be Gurmit
Singh's dual role as PCK's grandfather, with a full backstory
crafted out that allows for some hamming it up in period costumes,
plus a number of scenes that stood out in comical fashion
thanks to the character's presence, which provided much needed,
genuine humour (forgive me for laughing at the aged) amongst
many others which just fell flat. PCK The Movie also tries
to employ certain jokes reminiscent of Hong Kong mo-lei-tau
comedies, but these stem from desperation in mimicry which
didn't work, only serving to draw attention to itself rather
than to make you laugh, akin to listening to popular jokes
which are told so often, it's no longer funny.
I'm still skeptical about whether our local English television
series can make that successful feature film jump, if the
storyline continue to be an extension of what you get on television.
The pacing does sputter in the beginning before finding its
feet midway after getting rid of needless supporting character
subplots like King Kong (Charlie Tan) and his romance with
Lim's assistant manager Angel (Angie Seow) in order to focus
on the tripartite challenge set by Lim for PCK and Frankie,
and a rushed plot involving old folks getting bumped off as
an outcome of stuffing coffers. In short, this film is only
suitable for kids as it played out in juvenile fashion appealing
only to that targeted demographic.
Movie Rating:
(You really can't use your brain to enjoy this play play movie)
