30 Kamlung Jaew

'Fabulous 30' is yet another entry by the Thai film industry into the rom-com genre, a foray that arguably began with GMM's 'Bangkok Traffic Love Story' and has continued through their string of recent hits 'Hello Stranger' and 'ATM'. Unlike those movies however, this doesn't come from the GMM studio, which probably explains why it is less slick and less entertaining than any one of the other films.

Certainly its premise is less inspired, drawing as it does on the proverbial fears of single women who have hit the big 30. That lady is Ja (Patchrapa Chaichua), who not only has to deal with her supposed insecurity due to her age, but also from her recent split with a boyfriend of seven years after she finds out that he has no intention of settling down. As formula would have it, she will meet the right one just as she is prepared to give up on love.

Enter Porasit (Ken Phupoom), an engineer by training who has just graduated from university and is about to begin his job on an oil rig in six months time. And oh in case you're wondering, Por just happens to be seven years younger than her (i.e. he is 24 and she is 31 when they meet), which of course turns out to be a sore point in their budding romance even as they fall in love with each other.

Never mind that Por's best friend Zen (Nitit Warayanon) happens to have a crush on Ja, or that Ja's longtime boyfriend Nop (Peter Corp Dyrendal) comes knocking with an plea for them to get back together, this is essentially a love story between a younger man and an older woman and their attendant age complications. There's of course no doubt that by the end, Ja will overcome her dilemma of dating someone younger and follow her heart to say an affirmative yes to Por's constant plea for them to be a couple.

The journey to that established outcome however proves less fulfilling than you would expect it to, chiefly because the trio of screenwriters (Somching Srisupap, Boonpong Panich and Sakila Banyen) keep the story simple to the point of being simplistic. Instead of letting the characters develop along the way, they stick with the same formula throughout- guy and girl share a close intimate moment; guy and girl look like they might get together; girl gets cold feet due to some reminder of their age difference; then guy starts over trying to win her heart again.

Not only does the repetition get tiresome after a while, it also gets bogged down every time by heavy-handed melodrama. Indeed, Srisupap is too keen at every possible turn to let some sappy pop song or soundtrack play in the background as Por gets rejected time and again by Ja. It doesn't help that the pacing of the movie is too slow for its own good, and at slightly over two hours, is clearly stretching the material too thin.

Yet despite its flaws, there is still a sweet appeal to it, thanks to the mostly delightful cast. Kudos to Patchrapa Chaichua, who proves that she is much more than just a pretty face, channelling both her character's joys and insecurities sharply. Next to her, Phupoom comes off as rather blad and wooden, but at least the model and TV star making his first leap into feature film fits the bill as a gentle, playful and slightly less mature adult next to Chaichua. The supporting cast, consisting mainly of Ja's posse of friends, are largely a hoot and make the best of what screen time the film accords to them.

Of course, no rom-com could be possible without chemistry between the leads, and fortunately there is plenty of that between Chaichua and Phupoom. Without that spark between them, this rom-com would most certainly have fallen apart. Rather, they make the best of a middling script and some uneven direction to finally win you over with a message that love is always possible- despite what society may tell you- if you only trust your heart and follow your instincts.

The mainstream cinema of Thailand has in the last decade conquered the action and horror genres, and now it looks set with its sights aimed at making an impact in the romantic comedies as well. But it isn't the romantic weepies that the Japanese seem to have a stranglehold on, but that on the more light hearted fare that the used to be the mainstay of the Koreans. Utilizing equally good looking casts, the Thais look set to be on a roll with the adoption of the universal formula, and we'd probably be looking at a lot more of such film offerings to come.

In Fabulous 30, Somching Srisupap and Sakilaa Banyen's story deals with the notion of a younger man wooing after a much older woman, 7 years to be exact in this tale directed by the former. You can say all you want about the character being a cougar, or that of looking for a sugar mommy, but in essence it deals with that of looking beyond one's outer appearance, as well as judging a book not by its cover (yes, it's rather clichéd), or to look beyond age since it doesn't really accurately reflects one's emotional maturity when dealing with relationships and the opposite sex. There are older folks who refuse to grow up and adopts a childish mindset, and vice versa. Fabulous 30 throws all these issues and themes into a single context, and explores it through a light hearted romantic romp.

Ja (Patcharapa Chaichue) is a successful career woman who seem to have it all amongst her clique of friends, but as we soon learn during the celebration of her 31st birthday, she got unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend of 7 years Nop (Peter Corp Dyrendal), whom she berates for having wasted all her youthful time on, leaving her pretty much high and dry and dejected in her love life, almost resigning to her fate that she may never find another suitable man as her partner. In comes Por (Phuphom Phongpanu), the friend of her staff Sen (Nithit Warayanon), and despite the goading by her friends that this younger chap is all hot, she doesn't really bat an eyelid toward his friendly advances, and almost settled for placing him in the dreaded friend zone.

But thanks to Por's childish antics, stemming from never having been in a relationship and going all out on his first attempt, the best he ever got to was for Ja to seriously consider over it, with their age gap being one of the largest stumbling blocks because, I suppose, it's somewhat running against societal norms. You got to tip your hat off to her for enduring Por's really cloying behaviour, which sometimes lead to very embarrassing circumstances, and making things worse is the return of Nop back into Ja's life - here's a chance to go back to normalcy, or to take a chance with someone really new, and may be taking things a little light with the kinds of wooing tactics employed, which depending on your tolerance level, may deem it excessively desperate, or really novel.

The story circles around these issues, and it does get tiring after a while to witness Ja's indecision whether to go for it, to think about it, or otherwise. Por has a clock to run from, where work opportunity will place him into a 6 months separation from his lady love, so an answer is quite crucial to work out something long distance. Again I suppose the games people play make it to the narrative because it may be therapeutic for the storytellers to perhaps exercise some old demons from the past, and in doing so make their collective experience very much identifiable to audiences. But too much of a good thing adds up to a dragging of the narrative, even if it comes with a little bit of a revelation to explain in very verbatim terms why Por got so attracted to Ja.

But you have to admit that Patcharapa Chaichue would drive any young, hot blooded male crazy over her looks, despite being really of a close age to her character Ja. Her expressions throughout were really top notch, whether in expressing embarrassment, delight, or a mixture of both, she has the acting chops to put veterans in their place, making Ja come alive with sultriness and spunk, yet lamenting at her indecision. While Phuphom Phongpanu may share some chemistry with the leading lady, his range was somehow let down by the characterization of Por, who's quite the lovelorn character who can't seem to grow up, again being in the same age group in real life, but I wonder if even he would go to the extent of wooing someone with the kinds of stunts pulled off in the movie.

As always, there is the sheer coincidences that happen, and the very sweet, saccharine courtship rituals that come to pepper the plot. Pacing is a little bit erratic, as is the introduction of supporting characters such as Gift (Aorada Arayawuthi) whose subplot to become a viable alternative, distraction or temptation for Por didn't seem to move off from first gear, and got forgotten soon enough. Fans of romantic comedies will do yourselves a favour in checking Fabulous 30 out, and to keep an eye out for more of such films to come out from Thailand that are currently milking a proved formula.