Tagline: At least Wong Cho-Lam is funny...
The hottest TVB shortie, Wong Cho-Nam hits the big screen in a headline starring role as a full time womaniser and part time businessman. Short of Love is never the kind of movie that will blow you away. The purpose is to make you laugh out loud and if that is the only ambition director James Yuen want to take, the journey is already 90% completed. Wong Cho-Nam is funny, talented, witty and un-ashamed. It is all these attributes that adds up to make him a likable shortie. Sure, the major attractions to this movie is indeed the hot le-mo appearing as his muse in every episode of love encounters, namely – Angelababy, JJ Jia, Chrissie Chau, as well as established beaut in Race Wong, Ella Koon, Lynn Xiong and to a lesser extent Kate Tsui. With such a cast of eye candies, it is little wonder that this is James Yuen's most commercial film to date and if that didn't get you attracted, you are clearly not the other half of the population.
The movie is basically about a short rich guy who seeks for love and in the process end up meeting all these gorgeous girls. However, one after another they never last and for whatever reason Wong Cho-Nam is always alone at the end. It is a comedy about searching love, playing love and enjoying the process of love. The plus side, it is funny too.
It's been a while since I can recall a parody being funny and fresh, especially with the likes of over-representation of Ip Man's Donnie Yen expression of "I want 10". Therefore, seeing a parody of A Moment of Romance of Wah Dee is both refreshing and entertaining. That is if you have followed HK cinema since those early generations. There are also other local rendition such as the famous exploitation of money by Citibank, Lehman brothers and the global financial crisis. The tongue in cheek style of film-making works best here, as Wong Cho-Nam is filled with a variety of facial expressions. Perhaps his range of faces can best be described in the book of acting, but it is also his seamless wordplay and quick fire body language that made him one of the most popular TVB host in recent years.
It is a rare occasion when I go into a film expecting a good performance and Wong Cho-Nam does not disappoint. As my movie co-watcher say, the world is fair, despite his ugly outlook and below average height, the kid have obvious talents and in fact, multi-talented. His unique ability to make you laugh at everything he is saying, no matter how lame it maybe, should not be understated. His chemistry with nearly all the star-stunned co-stars is all the most amazing considering his looks comparison. When you can match it off with Angelababy as a couple, you get to have some sort of screen presence. Wong commands attention, demand laughter and back all these up with pure genius. Most probably the funniest shortie since the Tsui Hark days, when Teddy Robin Kwan was still around and most certainly a promising talent and hopefully Wong Jing will not come to him for a re-dux As for the girls, being bias is part of my professionalism. With each given just limited screen time to impress, I will give a couple words to describe each of them. Angelababy comes off being extremely sweet and beautiful; JJ Jia looks stunning in the spa, Race Wong is given the juiciest dual role and is undeniably hot in the lap dance, Kate Tsui is tomboyish enough to be believable, Chrissie Chau is bitch with good assets, Ella Koon is one pretty duckling and finally Lynn Xiong is tall enough for me to notice her.
All in all, Short of Love meets the market demand and is good for what it is. It's been a while since I last remember laughing so much either at or with the character in a movie. Wong Cho-Nam is one smart lad and his talents are quite obviously on show here. With a string of eye candies, literally coming one after another, as the other half of the world population, it is really difficult to complain. Still, the film is nothing more than what you can call mindless entertainment, as by the time the credit rolls, the attention span ends as soon as it started. At the end of the day, James Yuen created something fun and that is quite rare in HK Cinema today...(Neo 2010)
I rate it 7/10
