Luen oi chor gor

Product placement reaches staggering new heights—by all known international standards of the practice—in this electronic-press-kit-with-a-plot masterminded by Hong Kong music impresario Paco Wong, the head of Gold Label Records. The cast is a virtual catalogue of top-shelf Gold Label talent, and no effort is spared slowing a barely-there narrative for music-video-worthy performances of their top hits throughout the film.

Cantopop lovers will obviously find much to savor here—and the music is excellent of its kind—but even those disinclined to one of Hong Kong's biggest exports should give this a spin; it's bound to be dissected by future marketing professors for its sheer media-savvy chutzpah. This isn't just about someone holding a can of Coca-Cola in their hands, though it does happen here. It's about the person holding the product actually BEING a product themselves!

The biggest beneficiary of this super-slick infomercial is undoubtedly relative newcomer Justin Lo, an American-born singer-songwriter with a powerhouse delivery not often heard from the ranks of Hong Kong's superficial pop dispensary. Lo plays a slacker composer living with his seamstress mom who fears he might be losing his life-long best friend Kary Ng, a pseudo-goth record shop clerk who lives with her guilt-ridden alcoholic father (Lam Suet), to wealthy shop customer Alex Fong, a shy, friendless singer who bemoans all the "money whores" in his life (including his parents!) while charging rare Barry Manilow and Fleetwood Mac LPs to his Visa Black Platinum card and driving around in his vintage Porsche 911. "Boarding school was my orphanage," he boo-hoos in order to make us think that maybe, just maybe, real-life pop stars aren't about the money after all.

The reverence for Cantonese pop music and the oh-so-genuinely-sensitive souls who perform it runs deep in this: nearly every time someone sings—and it happens often, in trendy nightclubs, cramped apartments, community centers and pay-as-you-go recording studios—there's inevitably a cut (or two, or three) to a listener on the verge of tears from the overwhelming wonderfulness of it all.

In keeping with the branding theme, Ng's former groupmates from Cookies make gratuitous appearances here as well: Stephy Tang and Theresa Fu play ditzy rivals who switch sides when nominal villain and rival singer Keith Lee treats Ng like dirt after she snubs his advances, and Miki Yeung quite literally hovers speechless around the margins of countless scenes because...well, they just HAD to get her in there somewhere!

In addition to the six songs performed by Justin Lo, three by Kary Ng, and one each by Alex Fong, Elisa Lim and Ping Pung (Kary's other pop band, consisting of Wong Tin-ho, Jerry Lee and Jan Lee, the latter pair younger brothers to the film's composer Mark Lui), those synergistic pixies at Gold Label made damned sure to include cuts by house titans Edmund Leung and Ronald Cheng (both of whom share hosting duties with Alex Fong on the hit starlet-bait TV show "Beautiful Cooking") and then cast Leo Koo, whose own career was revived by the company in 2003, in a key cameo role.

And the nine girls who pop up in those throwaway "bathroom" scenes? I smell another pre-fab idol group on the horizon...

One can only assume that music veteran George Lam, who is not on the Gold Label roster, was brought in for a cinematic passing of the torch to this new generation of candy- coated superstars.

Written, as such, by the director, who manages to slip in a shameless plug for his upcoming thriller FATAL CONTACT. Producer Herman Yau also served as the film's cinematographer, and it benefits immensely from his work.

I thought 'Love @ First Note' was a really cute movie. It mainly deals with a bunch of teenagers and a certain music scene. It had it's fun and surprising and maybe even sad moment. It was kind of heart-full, which I thought was really great. It's a movie that you can probably relate to and I think it contrasted the character emotions pretty clearly. Although there are tons of Chinese love dramas, this one was most definitely not one of the worst. It could have been better, but even so I loved it! Very nice to just sit at home and watch, alone, or maybe even with a loved one. It mainly deals with teenagers and of course, music so if you're not too much of a fan for that kind of movie, do stay away. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

A self-promotion music video… To call Love @ First Note a movie, is very much an overstatement and while it isn't exactly boring, the film never rises above its music video status and the result is just borderline average. In a perfect example of product placement at its most obvious, is director Dennis Law promoting his own film, Fatal Contact which was due to come out 2 months after this one. In the karaoke room, Justin and Kary, spoke about why they want to watch Fatal Contact, the scene is so obvious that it is laughable. While other directors like Johnnie To uses product placement in a more subtle manner, Dennis Law prefers to tell the audience directly in the face that this is the product we are trying to sell right now. With every shots that goes with out spoken lines, being cultivated by singing from Alex Fong, Kary Ng and most notably Justin Lo, it is not surprising that the movie is more about its actors trying to promote their singing career rather than acting. Perhaps the best thing is the random "here and there" appearance by Neo's favourite Miki Yeung, whose silent cameo steals the show. It goes without saying that there is a big problem, when the best thing in the movie is a silent cameo.

Justin Lo in his big screen debut (when you discount his cameo in Miriam Yeung's 2 Become 1), is by no means an actor. While his singing is undoubtedly the best of the trio, Justin tries too hard to be likable and comes off rather tedious. With that being said, it must be noted that this is probably a role tailored made to Justin Lo only and some marks must be given for his mother and son chemistry with Tien Niu. The duo is able to play off each other extremely well and allowing some occasional fun for the audience. Next up is Kary Ng, while she has changed her outlook, Neo still can not change his perspective on her. Perhaps she can sing a bit, but she definitely pales in comparison whenever she stands next to the likes of Stephy, Theresa and even with just Miki roaming in the background. In addition, the chemistry between Kary and Justin or Alex, just isn't there, or may be Neo is just bias about her.

Adding to the mix is the stone faced Alex Fong, who never seems to be able to replicate his career best display in last year's surprise package, I'll Call You. With performances like Dating a Vampire, Love is Not all Around and this, Fong is certainly not heading the right direction. However, Lam Suet continues to be the most underrated supporting actor, as he eases off the cobwebs with just the right execution as a drunken dad trying to let go of his past. Tats Lau Yi-Tat once again, shows why he is the most effortless comedy around and along with Miki Yeung's cameo, almost seems to be a par above the current material.

Dennis Law is not a good director, but it is worth wondering how much control he has in this production, when the likes of Paco Wong are pushing the commercial buttons. Director Law does improve a fair bit in his next outing, Fatal Contact, but on this material alone, he seems more concern about the product placement, than actual camera work. With that being said, Love @ First Note, never ceases to be bore, or perhaps it is aided by the audience wanting to hear the next popular song. Still, this film falls short even to be defined as a movie, but as far as music videos are concerned, it is probably good enough. (Neo 2006)

I rate it 6/10

• www.thehkneo.com

Original, believable character interactions for the first half of the film...then then it turns into a steaming pile of romance movie cliché. Everything you can think of is here: the alcoholic father who miraculously turns his life around (for no apparent reason other than it's in the script); the shy best friend who just might be the perfect boyfriend; the rich playboy villain. Apaprently the director/writer just ran out of ideas and start ripping off other romance films. Stuff happens toward the end for no discernible reasons other than it's in the script. At least the songs are catchy. And Hollywood probably would have screw it up worse.