Sell Out!

As far as brilliant ideas go, Sell Out! deserves a special mention for how it manages to be very funny and very touching at the same time. It denounces the "evils" of capitalism in the most original way - through musical numbers and pitch-black humor - and that's why it's hard, nah, impossible to resist its quirky charm.

The "evils" the film sets out to lampoon are incarnated by a powerful corporation which is responsible, among other things, for entertainment in Malaysia. One of the people working there is a female journalist who interviews weird celebrities, but since her viewing figures are low, the two bosses are thinking about firing her. The solution to her problem is provocative to say the least: she comes up with a new show, a reality program which will capture the last moments of dying people on film. It all gets complicated, however, when an ex-colleague (he got fired for producing a machine that wouldn't have to be replaced immediately, thus reducing the company's profits), who has a crush on her, volunteers to be on the program. The complication derives from the fact that he qualifies as an extreme case of "split personality" (see it to believe it).

Some might feel like dismissing the story as nonsense, but that doesn't really detract from the film's power: after all, how many things make sense when big corporations are involved? Besides, the film is ostensibly a musical, and therefore logic is, by definition, banned as a concept. And it all works for the better: the film's freewheeling madness, expressed via absurd death scenes and outlandish singing and dancing (the "sucking up" routine being the best), perfectly reflects the overall insanity of a postmodern world in which everything is relative, even opinions. Proof of that comes in the hilarious opening scene, where the female lead interviews a filmmaker who says he will never do a musical because he hates the genre. What's so brilliant about that? Well, the director happens to be named after the real writer/director of Sell Out!, so that scene is actually a reversed artistic statement: he says what he's going to do by denying it. That's real creativity.

This show mainly focuses on the two main casts Eric Tan (acted by Peter Davis) and Rafflesia Pong (Jerrica Lai). Both of them faces work related struggles where Eric designed a soya-bean machine which is not par with what his 2 bosses (making a humorous comedic pair) played by the want and Rafflesia who's TV series is facing a possible cut after low ratings. Both of these casts were tied in together wonderfully in script with laughs along the way.

The humor is one of a kind with some sarcasm and inside jokes inserted here and there. I like how the director Yeo Joon Han could make fun of himself too in the movie (As has been done by several directors in the past including Matt Groening in this cartoon series the Simpsons).

I believe Rafflesia's role was played out to the best of her capabilities by Jerrica Lai while Peter Davis' acting could further be improved by instilling more expressions in his face and enthusiasm. What I liked about this show was the true concept that lied beneath the outer layer such as how movies need not have lots of actions scenes just to attract audiences and how good people are expected to look just to be on TV these days. This depicts a proper story line that makes sense unlike the many Tinseltown Hollywood mumbo jumbo films have made. I also thoroughly admired the effort put into the writing of the songs in scenes of the show. The lyrics made sense and I found some songs to be rather catchy.

To sum it all up, there were many bits in this show which I enjoyed. If you want to know more about the movie for yourself, hop in to the cinema and experience a different kind of movie with humor and moral!

Yeo Joon Han's first short film, "Adults Only," premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2006, won the Special Mention and went on to screen at over 20 international film festivals, garnering several more awards along the way

This year, He released his first full-length feature film. World-premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival's Critic's Week, "Sell Out!" brought the house down with laughter and applause at all 3 of its screenings, eventually winning the Young Cinema Award for Alternative Vision and developing a devoted cult following.

Don't miss it.

My personal measure of an excellent comedy, is whether or not it reduces me to tears that roll uncontrollably coupled with some really deep-felt hearty laughter. While I'd like to pride myself with a good sense of humour, it does take some effort to really elicit that kind of a reaction from me, and Sell Out! does that by the bucketloads, and through a variety of methods ranging from slapstick to the wry, from the staring-in-your-face obvious to the wink-wink-insider-jokes too.

Yeo Joon Han dug deep into his plethora of talent, wearing the hats for producing, writing, editing, directing and, check this out - writing the songs (lyrics and music composition) as well! And the songs are a definite highlight of the film, while not so much a musical per-se, but does have characters breaking into song to move the narrative forward. And in true, witty nature, look out for that moment that calls for YOUR participation! Jack Neo may feel threatened that Joon Han's Money song easily rivals those he oft feature in his Money No Enough series, but my personal fan-favourite amongst the tunes would be "You're Not My Type", with Jerrica Lai and Peter Davis delivering a duet that has to be experienced with proper sound on the big screen for its wonderful accompanying visuals that capture character emotions just perfectly.

From the get go, Joon Han delivers every step of the way, all the way to the final frame, without condescending nor making the audience feel stupid. Rather, he turned the tables on himself first, in self-deprecating fashion to introduce himself as an arty-farty director and pokes fun at question-and-answer, art and commercial films, and you'll even be treated to a screening of his award winning short with some really inane dialogue. From that point on with your attention arrested, Joon Han throws every subject into the narrative almost effortlessly, with themes that are easily identifiable, but always keeping an eye out to ensure that the fun factor in every scene is never lost.

Sell Out! boasts some superb "mo-lei-tau" scenes coming in from the blind side to tickle that funny bone of yours, capturing little things that irritate in life and provide a fun spin to them, from pop culture to SMS reality shows, and who would know that Death could be so funny as well. There's a really brilliant scene in the film alongside a deathbed that encompassed plenty, and makes it all the more worthwhile for repeated viewings just to catch every possible punchline from that scene. Those paying close attention during the film will be richly rewarded with plenty of funny nuances that we would immediately guffaw at, and sly subtitles also have a life of their own, to hilarious effect.

But it's not always all fun and games, and that's why this film is such the gem that it is. There's a clear commentary about doing work with heart, and wanting to be appreciated for a job well done, versus gritting your teeth and doing something that betrays your moral conscience. There's also a sharp underlying critique on modern society in general, and on corporate governance (or the lack thereof!) since what more could you expect from a conglomerate that calls itself FONY and has a one-liner, though succinctly easy to understand mission statement, to "make money", which is after all, the basic reasons for corporations to exist.

The cast too are gutsy enough to trust the debut feature filmmaker, lending their vocals and performing the songs many themselves. I'd like to think that this could have also been a romance, with Eric Tan (Peter Davis) the honest and un-business savvy engineer with his 8-in-1 Super Soya Maker, being infatuated with Rafflesia Pong (Jerrica Lai) the ruthless, uncompromising go-getter who cannot wait to show her rival, the hot pan-Asian Hanna Edwards Leong (Hannah Lo) a thing or two about the ratings game. Then we have the scene stealers with Kee Thuan Chye and Lim Teik Leong as the Smoking and Forgetful CEOs respectfully, encompassing what we dread and probably hate most about corporate bosses who think they can get away with anything in the name of profits. There are some wonderful characterization amongst the leads, with an ensemble supporting cast to add colour, which reminded me of Citizen Dog when the man in the street joins in for a chorus about Money.

Rarely has a film captured so much in under 120 minutes and making sense of it all through well-placed humour. As such, Sell Out! has my firm vote as a personal favourite and the best of the Festival thus far, being the breath of fresh air amongst many stuffy entries that had misplaced artistic merits, alienating themselves from audiences who feel that in depressing times, we can't help but reject yet another self-indulgent movie. Sell OUt! has nothing of that, and has set itself as a contender for my year end roundup of the best offerings in 2009. If it was left up to me, I'd give this film both the Best Film and Best Director prizes at the Silver Screen Awards at the SIFF. The commercial release is due soon on May 7 on both sides of the Causeway, so whatever you do, please make Sell Out! your must watch(! - I must exclaim this) movie this year! Join the Facebook group here! And get the soundtrack from the shops while waiting for it to hit the screens! Support good storytelling, and enjoy a great film!