Goo nam gwa lui

Sammi Cheng and Andy Lau star in this romantic-comedy--with a particular emphasis on romance. I noticed a couple reviewers didn't like that the film wasn't that funny. I had no problem with it and thought it didn't need to be funnier.

When I rented this film, my first thought was 'wow--a film starring Andy Lau that is NOT a martial arts epic or gritty cop film!'. This is because here in the States, most of Lau's films you see are this sort of film--such as "Internal Affairs", "House of Flying Dragons" and "Warlords". Here it is nice to see him in something lighter.

The film is set in Hong Kong and involves a nice boss (Lau) and a strange secretary (Cheng). I say strange because on one hand she's a mess. She has no confidence with men and flies off the deep when she has relationship problems. But, on the other hand, she's very loyal, highly skilled and a very important part of her office team--though she's not the sort to seek attention and often lets herself be the fall gal when there are problems. As the film progresses, Lau realizes what a find he has with Cheng--at first as a co-worker and then later...well see the film for yourself to see what's next.

Overall, this is a very sweet film--a nice date film. Nothing overly deep or significant here--just a very nice movie featuring some actors who manage to carry off the film quite well.

Hong Kong seems to love Sammi Cheng in whiny, helpless roles, as evident by her slew of Hong Kong Film Awards acting nominations - for this movie, Love on a Diet (both with Andy Lau), and Fighting for Love (with Tony Leung). While I looked past her annoying character in Love on a Diet because I found its weight-loss theme inspirational, both this movie and Fighting for Love - typical romantic comedies - are merely tolerable, good for a couple of chuckles. Though I understand Sammi's acting range isn't that wide, it's a pity that the Queen of Cantopop is perpetually relegated to such grating cheeseball roles. 6/10

A very, very average and mediocre film. The storyline isn't bad, but it is badly executed. In a series of very disjointed series of scenes, the characters never fully developed. The film never knew exactly what it wanted to be either. Billed as a romantic comedy, it had funny moments, but never seemed to go far enough. Too many unfunny moments spoiled it for me. The characters lacked chemistry and emotion between them and in many ways, the story came out just depressingly sad. Not a good ingredient in a supposedly funny movie. Anyway, it could have been done a lot better...

A must see for fans of Andy Lau this is a light-hearted romantic treat with Sammi Cheung lighting up the scenes with her girl-next-door looks and coquettish smile. There are several moments in the film that could have been smoother (the entire "kidnapping" is a bit overbearing and Kinki's family acts as if they're in the wrong movie) but there's plenty of whimsical fun and childlike nuttiness that will have you rooting for these two well before the two hours run out.

This effort from Johnny To and his Milky Way cronies is unfortunately a huge step back for the company. While it can be admired that To (along with co-director Wai Ka Fai) is attempting a new genre, the romantic comedy, the cheap gags definitely threaten to bog down the entire picture. Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng star as Andy and Kinki, a pair of office drones in a company that somehow deals with computer chips. You can guess what happens next. The only saving grace here is Cheng's neurotic, charming performance. However, with Kinki's constant putdowns and desperate antics, this character makes Ally McBeal look like a model of feminist restraint. Lau takes his role a little too seriously and his temper tantrums threaten to turn this seemingly lightweight effort into something far more serious. A subplot about an Internet millionaire's affections for Kinki (which could've been nicely lampooned is instead squandered) never takes off. This is generally an unwatchable effort, which is hopefully only a temporary detour for Milky Way.