Siu chan chan

By the numbers rom-com starring Kelly Chen and Aaron Kwok.

Pretentious, self-obsessed newspaper columnist Luna (Chen) finds an old LP in a junk shop, that turns out to be the one she gave to her first true love as a gift years before. She tries to buy it but it's reserved for Cheung (Kwok), an arrogant radio host who dispenses his rather dubious wisdom between playing classic tracks on vinyl. He refuses to let her have the record, and mentions the incident on his show. Incensed by this, she responds by attacking him in her column, resulting in a tit-for-tat battle that soon gets out of hand.

That their hate turns to love at some point in the movie is a given. In fact, the only surprise on offer here is that the film flits between this pair and another, only tenuously linked to Luna and Cheung. Theresa Mo plays Cat, the lady who owns the junk shop. Feeling lonely, she buys a pet dog, and unwittingly finds her soulmate when she runs into the dog's original owner, Mo (Eric Tsang). This second story is amusing, but mostly only succeeds in highlighting how lightweight the main story is.

My main problem with this film is how unlikeable the leads are. Chen's bug-eyed gurning gets old fast, and Kwok doesn't put in much effort. Their characters seem shallow and it's hard to muster the enthusiasm to care what happens to them.

Still, it's a nice enough movie, and if you're after a pleasant little time-waster you could do a lot worse.

Oddly enough then I have actually never seen this 2000 Hong Kong romantic comedy titled "Siu Chan Chan" (aka "And I Hate You So") before now in 2022. And of course with it being a Hong Kong movie, then I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch what writer Ivy Ho had in store here.

The storyline told in "Siu Chan Chan" was pretty generic for a romantic comedy, and it felt like Ivy Ho was following the Romantic-Comedies-For-Dummies book page by page. So if you enjoy these sappy and predictable romantic comedies, then you are in for a treat here.

I will say that the story was okay. I mean, you know what you are in for here and director Chung-Man Yee doesn't veer off course to throw a single surprise at the audience, for better or worse.

The movie does have some of Hong Kong cinema's more established names on the cast list, with Aaron Kwok and Kelly Chen in the two leading roles. However, the movie also have Teresa Mo and Eric Tsang on the cast list to spruce things up a bit.

While I managed to sit through the entire movie, I was only mildly entertained. And this is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.

My rating of "Siu Chan Chan" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Hmmm, the two leads are too hard of a character to really stir up romantic feelings, and their interactions rather flat despite the mud slinging that goes on. Aaron Kwok, although a gorgeous looking guy, never appears like he has deep character in any of his movies, or someone with a caring personality. Kelly Chen is also too stiff and don't convey kindness, or loving feelings on any of her movies. Now two such characters got together in a romantic comedy ! It would have only worked with a title like I Hate You So.

Both actors do a credible job, but I couldn't get to like the character Aaron Kwok's was playing. He was pretty mean in this movie. Kelly Chen's character was only marginally better. The romance between Eric and Mo on the sideline was silly and it didn't match the mood of the two serious main characters. There were other romantic comedy with two leads antagonizing each other like Pillow Talk between Doris Day, and Rock Hudson. At least those guys had some charm even when they were going at each other. This is not the case with these two.

Plot was pretty good, so the movie was okay to watch. It's an unlikely story of romance happening to two such characters.

If you in the mood of love, this is truly a must see. Such a romantic view. Especially if you watch it by your "special friend". The plot is so common, but the director is sweetly re-made this tale of love. If you expect some good and no-cheesy drama, you will be disappointed. But, like I told you, this movie will fill you with love.

7/10

I braved this Aaron Kwok-Kelly Chan vehicle to see Teresa Mo's first (and only) movie appearance since 1994. I've missed watching her goofy-cute performances and she doesn't disappoint, even if And I Hate You So is as lame a movie as they come.

The plot sounded promising - a columnist and a deejay get into an extended catfight, trashing each other through their respective medias. However, the characters (or the actors) fail to rise up to expectations. Kwok's deejay is just mean and misogynist, and Chan's columnist is simply bossy and untalented. Considering the kissy-kissy movie poster, it's plain to see that they're going to fall in love despite their spats. How they look past each other's shortcomings is beyond me. Well, lame-o deserves lame-o.

Teresa Mo and Eric Tsang apparently get a romantic side plot of their very own as Mo only interacts with the two leads a couple of times and Tsang not at all. I thought it was perhaps their romance was supposed to parallel that of the leads', but I failed to see any relation besides the obvious falling in love with each other, so I'm attributing it to uneven scripting. It's not a bad thing, detaching Mo from the uninteresting leads, but she's given much less screen time as a result. Still, it doesn't stop her from outshining the leads and stealing the movie with her radiant presence. As evidence, she's was the only actor here nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award. 5/10