Pao ba hai zi

Sorry, the title I wrote is just a joke, now let's cut to the chase.

This Singapore film, again by Jack Neo, very touched, about a boy and a girl called Chew Seow Fang and Chew Kiat Kun, both poor and optimistic, when Chew Kiat Kun accidentally lost his sister's shoes, he knew he had to do something, but, to be honest, Chew Seow Fang's feet looked quite good, I know it's not right, but I had to say that.

I guess I saw a very touched scene that I came to my tears, Chew Kiat Kun tried to convince his parents and headmaster to let him join the race to win the shoe prize, and he did his best and won it, I can help myself no more, and I was deeply touched.

Remarkable film, competed to the I Not Stupid Too (2006). I ranted 10/10.

Wonderful performances by children, good family messages and some truly funny laugh-out-loud moments ("one, two, three, kick!").

The Singapore vs. Malaysia water politics were completely missed by me, and it was only after my Singaporean friends explained it to me that I understood the controversy. Anyone not from the region will simply not even notice it.

At the same time, the water politics give the movie an interesting aspect, and probably bring light to an issue that most people outside the region would never have heard of previously. So, regardless on your stance on the issue, it can't hurt to bring more attention to the issue.

Definitely see this film with your kids!

I have watched this movie a few times before in Chinese class. I never really got to truly appreciate and understand this movie until now.

"Homerun" is about two poor siblings who have to share shoes after the brother accidentally loses his sisters' pair of shoes. The plot is simple, but amazingly, the movie managed to get deep and emotional. It's truly a wonder.

This is really an inspiring film. At first, I thought the plot was too over the top and too unrealistic, but after watching the whole film, I realized: How would I know? Myself, like Beng Soon, was born into a fortunate family and (as he put it:) I don't understand what it's like to live without shoes. I have never been in a situation like that, so I don't have any right to decide whether something like this is unrealistic or whatnot.

I love family films and this one, although foreign, is no exception. I really liked the bond that the siblings shared. Even if things would not go the way they wanted it to, they never gave up and always found ways to work through them together. That was inspiring.

The one thing I did not like in this film was the humor that seemed to be trying too hard. There were so many scenes in the movie that could have just been cut and made the film better. The so-called funny scenes with Kun's classmates were unnecessary. The bad humor played a big part in my low score for this movie. Aside from that, I think that the cast could have been improved. The movie would do well without some of the students. The lead actor seemed to be lacking in something. However, the actress who played the sister and the actor who played the rival, did terrific jobs.

Viewed on: June 17, 2011

Tip: If you really want to see me cry by watching a movie, then it better be about family. Last night, I cried buckets just watching the Singaporean flick Homerun on TV.

The movie is actually an adaptation of the Iranian original entitled Bacheha-Ye-aseman or Children of Heaven by film-maker Majid Majidi. However, this new version by director Jack Neo did not exactly base the whole story on the original and added flavors of his own. I have not seen the original, though, and therefore cannot make any kind of comment.

Set in 1965, Homerun centers on Ah Kun (Shawn Lee), his sister Seow Fang (Megan Zheng), and their seeming obsession with finding a new pair of shoes for the girl. If they cannot achieve that specific goal, at least, find the old ones that Kun lost. The very significance of the goal becomes understandable from the start. Their family lives in poverty with the father taking all the odd jobs he can find and the mother heavy with a baby. Them being so poor, the siblings know that their family cannot anymore afford to buy yet a new pair of shoes.

To solve the problem, Kun and Fang end up using the same worn-out pair that Kun owns. Fang wears them to school in the morning and gets into trouble with her teacher scolding her for wearing boys' shoes that are even too large for her. Kun wears them in the afternoon and gets into deeper trouble with the principal always catching him going to school late. What makes things doubly hard is they keep the problem as a secret to spare the parents from further worry. This only creates complications. In his desperation, Kun is forced to swallow his pride and submit to rich boy Ben Soon's (Joshua Ang...In reviews, the character is Ming Soon) demands and conditions only to acquire new shoes for his beloved sister.

Homerun has a familiar, universal theme - poverty. However, the actual theme, if you concentrate on the movie alone, is family love as well as friendship. If you concentrate further and are familiar with Singapore's political history, you will further find underlying messages that Neo did not exactly try to hide. I am, of course, under no authority to comment on this, so I will leave the debate on those who have. Personally, I am more touched by the family love theme. This is what I will concentrate on.

It was very commendable of Kun to be so loving and caring for his family, especially for his little sister. The things he did just to replace her shoes and make her smile again surely melted my heart. She was no ungrateful wench either. In her quiet way, Fang appreciated his efforts, never got mad at him, and actually cared for her big brother as well. Both were just victims of poverty, symbolized by the shoes they so wanted. Or by the lack of shoes, to be more specific. You'd have to be touched by the sacrifices the kids had to make, especially Kun when he joined a race and, in his belief, "lost". His loyal friends, at least, were always there to try and help as much as they could, which was also touching.

This movie certainly makes it up my list of favorites. I highly recommend it as a family drama. It is a very well-made story, simple and direct, the best way to get your message across. You'd want your audience to focus on one or two character(s), not bombard them with others' sub-plots. Too much ingredients and flavor sometimes ruin the taste.

The characters in Homerun were well-developed. There were no mysteries that needed to be solved, save from who got the old shoes. No high-tech presentations. After all, it was 1965. Certainly no hysterics. There were crying scenes, yes, but mostly, the situations and long faces would make you do all the crying yourself. If you were me, anyway. The kids were very good actors, particularly Zheng who became co-winner of the Best Newcomer category and gave the movie its first-ever Golden Horse award.

The movie wasn't very sad all through-out, though. In fact, there were a lot of funny scenes, especially with Kun's friends providing the comic relief. There's the stereo-typical fat kid who's supposed to be considered ugly and called pig, but other than that, I have no complaints.

For me, this movie - as a movie - deserves a NINE out of a ten rating. No questions asked.

Right off the bat, let me say the kids were great. Jack Neo has a way of tugging at the heart strings by getting us to feel for the plight of the children in his movies. And the teacher, played by Marcus, is brilliant! He was easily the best actor in the entire film. But apart from that, it was a TV movie at best. Except for the kids and Marcus, every other character was played so over the top, it made the recent Brothers 4 actually seem good. And it was hard to miss the massive Homerun ads on TV, in cinemas, in magazines. It was a bad move to constantly drill it into us that this was "a remake of the award winning Iranian film, Children of Heaven". Comparisons will obviously be made, and Homerun is far inferior to the magnificent original.