Sat yee gai lui wong

'Sat Yik Gui Nui Wong' (Why Me Sweetie?) marks Hong Kong director Jingle Ma's (his past credits includes Summer Holiday, Tokyo Raiders, Hot War and Fly Me to Polaris) return to the big screen after a year break. His last 2 movies were Goodbye Mr Cool and Para Para Sakura, both released in 2001. His upcoming effort would be Silver Hawk which has Michelle Yeoh in the leads. So movie buffs would certainly expect more when they watch a movie directed by him. But 'Why Me Sweetie?' turns out to be more a slapstick than a romantic comedy, especially in the early parts of the movie.

The story centers on Ding Ding (Cherrie Ying), an American Chinese who studies drama in Beijing. One day, she bumps into a bakery shop owner-cum-playboy, Dong (Louis Koo) while on the way to her class. They develop a liking towards each other and decide to meet again. When Ding Ding visits Dong , the latter strangely enough, denies their acquaintance, as if nothing has happened. This lead to a trail of confusion and Ding Ding decides to get to the bottom of the situation. Dong apparently suffers from a selective memory loss syndrome. When he is truly in love with someone, he faints. So the process (or scenes) of Ding and Dong breaking and making up are repeated a few times. Throw in a few sidekicks (like Tats Lau) and you can have a few laughs. Yet, director Ma occasionally succeeds in tugging at the heart strings of viewers.

Overall I would like to say you got to be a big fan of Louis Koo or Cherrie Ying to sit through this movie, otherwise forget it.

It is a good piece of film. The actor and actress are of good quality. Great directorship and cinematography. But the script lacks something. Something more substantial enough to make it an excellent piece. It definitely moves me in certain parts by Cherrie and Koo's excellent acting skills despite Cherrie being a new comer.

For the first half, she reminds me of Rong Zu Er, but the more exaggerated version and it is not natural enough (Rong has done a better job). Later part, she moved me.

The whole script is like a mix-and-match sequence, slightly modified version from Romeo & Juliet and 50 First Dates.

Music was good.

If Louis Koo was on a mission to be the worst actor in Hong Kong, he could not have found a better picture to bring him such startling success. In this film, Koo tries to woo a Beijing theater student (Cherry Ying), but he suffers from memory loss, and he keeps forgetting who she is. A cute little CGI effect shows Louis Koo's face turning red from bottom to top like a thermometer before losing his memories. A bad choice of effect, really, since Koo is red-faced to begin with from his regular duels with tanning beds. This picture has nothing going for it. Cherrie Ying is forgettable, Louis Koo just plain bad. He desperately needs to stop making romantic comedies and restore what little remains of his credibility. If nothing else, WHY ME, SWEETIE? has left me longing for a mature romance that doesn't rely on cartoon gimmickry to hide its shallow insipidness. The search goes on. Meanwhile viewers who hanker for more tales revolving around fictional forms of amnesia can try the Drew Barrymore vehicle 50 FIRST DATES, which is at least more heartfelt than this production.