Gong zi duo qing

Sep 21

Ok Hong Kong comedy but not the greatest (forgive the pun).

Very strong and likeable cast.. big hitters Chow Yun Fat, Anita Mui, Nina Li Chi and Eric Tsang amongst others, and it is decent.

I found it a little over long and the humour of the first 20 mins was completely wasted on me.

So good but not great.

7ish out of 10.

I must admit that I was somewhat looking forward to watching this movie, as I found out that it had a rather impressive cast list in the roles. I mean, with the likes of Yun-Fat Chow, Anita Mui, Wah Yuen and Eric Tsang on the cast list, then it would be a sure win that the movie would be great.

"The Greatest Lover" (aka "Gong zi duo qing") is actually a very generic romantic comedy, in terms of storyline and script. Now, don't get me wrong, because the movie was still rather enjoyable and entertaining. It just didn't really offer anything overly outstanding to the genre.

The movie is well-paced and the storyline progresses nicely. In fact, there wasn't really a dull moment throughout the course of the entire movie.

The comedy in "The Greatest Lover" was a bit toned down and hushed, if you will. That was a bit of a shame, because a bit more comedy would have made for a way more enjoyable movie.

This is an archetypical late 1980s romantic comedy that were made by the dozens in the Hong Kong cinema, for better or worse. At least you know what you are getting here, if you are familiar with the Hong Kong cinema.

My rating of "The Greatest Lover" is a six out of ten stars. The movie was by no means the best of movies for Yun-Fat Chow, Anita Mui or Eric Tsang, but still enjoyable enough on its own actually.

Maybe I'm just biased towards nostalgia but most of the time, the classic Hong Kong comedies of my youth can do no wrong.

The Greatest Lover stars two of HK's best - Chow Yun Fatt and Anita Mui - and features Sandra Ng and Eric Tsang as well. It's a delightful comedy about three illegal immigrants from China, one of whom (Chow) gets roped into a gentleman-training course - taught by Mui - in order to take revenge on some bitchy beauties who jilted a nasty fellow. Kinda like a gender-reversed My Fair Lady.

Chow and Mui alternate between slapstick and more highbrow humor effortlessly, like the true masters they are, and the rest of the supporting cast - there are more famous faces I haven't named - are up to the task as well. The movie is really too silly to be considered great, but it's very endearing if you open up to it.

You probably never thought you'd see Chow Yun Fat happily eating feces, did you? Well, that and more awaits you in The Greatest Lover, a sweet but decidedly lowbrow Hong Kong take on My Fair Lady, with Chow playing the ill-mannered lout transformed into a suave society man and Anita Mui playing his frustrated etiquette/elocution instructor.

Rarely has such a big star so totally debased himself for your entertainment, so you comedy fans owe it to Chow Yun Fat to check out his off-the-wall performance. And for those who manage to endure the juvenile humor, there really is a touching story of love and friendship waiting to be discovered here.