Jin chou fu lu shou

TVB is no stranger to making relevant and entertaining HK movies. Once again starring Wong Cho Nam, Eric Tsang and everyone else you can name in TVB. It's rare for HK cinema nowadays to produce a movie that is for the HK audience, about HK culture, life and people. The Fortune Buddies stay true to this and in turn produce a movie that is incoherent, yet fun, uneven yet interesting and mo-lei-tau yet entertaining. In a way, this film cannot be assessed as a movie, but rather as a snapshot of fun that HK people need and require. All in all, The Fortune Buddies is one of the better HK films to come out of the tiny territory and that's an achievement alone. Definitely worth viewing as a mindless, painless, fun time killer event…

Neo rates it 7/10.

• www.thehkneo.com

Besides the EU spin off '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, hearkening 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.

• www.moviexclusive.com

Fortune Buddies star the trio of Louis Yuen, Wong Cho Lam and Johnson Lee as down and out friends Fook, Luk and Sau respectively, in a comedy that contain the usual self-deprecating jokes played on the main cast as well as the cameos (Michael Tse of Laughing Gor bearing the brunt of most slapstick), but surprisingly is stinging and barbed in its veiled criticism about Hong Kong society, that I think hey, something similar could also be made here that is equally critical of our own. After all, it'll be something to laugh at ourselves, especially when we step back and realize that our ugly behaviour can make for some good comedy.

What I had enjoyed about Fortune Buddies isn't its rather absurd storyline, but the various disparate scenes crafted and then glued together to form a narrative of sorts that reflects some quirky societal ills, issues and the state of affairs, played for laughs naturally since this is a comedy after all. For instance, there's the crazy spiralling property prices that Hong Kongers have to deal with, and an apartment is something Luk has to provide for his girlfriend (Fiona Sit) as a condition laid out by her dad (Eric Tsang) before he can marry her, but this spells a tall (pardon the pun) for Luk as he can't hold down a regular job given the relative high unemployment rate.

Even more no holds barred statements got made more than once about how societal has degraded and people falling into idiocy, that mirrors ironically how badly crafted films can find box office success easily as compared to more serious fare. But I digress, though it was tempting to reflect upon how this was somewhat a self fulfilling prophecy especially when film financing doesn't come easy these days, and films as these still continue to get funding to be made.

The film heavily relies on the leading trio to bring about the laughs as they lampoon various situations and dress up, in drag even, to elicit a chuckle from the audience. Each character they play come with baggage and an objective to achieve before the film ends, such as Fook needing to gain some self-respect from his estranged gangster chief wife, Sau trying to tackle his dream girl (Samantha Ko), and Luk needing plenty of cash to finally get parental consent for his girl to marry him. These monetary and self-respecting requirements all get worked into an Ip Man 2 parallel spoof, where the trio encounters kung fu masters, and getting into the fighting ring with some Caucasian wrestlers.

As always, a number of jokes seemed to have lost their flavour and punchlines given the unnatural translation from Cantonese to Mandarin, which is a pity because it made the entire film look quite dull. Take for instance Johnson Lee's mimicry of the four heavenly kings, where in the Cantonese trailer you'd appreciate the very accurate attempts both in mannerisms and voice quality, but in the Chinese dubbed film, made it look extremely artificial. I'd say it's about time Hong Kong films are given back some respect in being allowed to screen in their original language track here.