SYNOPSIS:
Women in their late-twenties who are in search of finding the right one often find themselves at a cross road of not knowing who to choose. This film centers on Nie Bing, a high profile TV hostess that is obsessed with trying to find her "ideal man" before her 30th birthday. Strangely, Nie Bing is given a magical car by a self-proclaim angel during a visit to a bar and was told that each time she drives an eligible man will appear. With this magical car, Nie Bing decides to embark on a journey in search of her Mr Right...
MOVIE REVIEW:
If there is a definition for an absolute misfire, then it has got to be Fit Lover, a Hong Kong-China co-production that misses the mark on every level. And the worst thing about it is that it had 12 opportunities to get it right- yes, 12, because it is essentially a string of 12 vignettes, each as lacklustre as the other.
The lead star of the show is Hong Kong actress Karena Lam. Lam plays TV host Nie Bing, a 29-year old single woman growing on 30 that recently has been having nightmares of growing old alone with only a black cat with creepy green eyes for company. Hope comes in the form of an angel (played by Huang Bo from Crazy Stone) who gives her the keys to a red Honda Fit (and hence the movie’s English title) and tells her that she will meet 12 guys, of which one will be her lover.
Among the 12, there is a handsome traffic policeman who has his own fan club of women illegally parking just to get a ticket from him; an overly enthusiastic actor; a rich billionaire much older than her and clueless about women; a conservationist whose idea of demonstrating the cruelty of mankind to animals is to lock her up in a cage; and an old classmate who has always secretly held a crush on her.
The cast of 12 suitors is no more than an excuse to parade several popular male stars from the region, including Leo Ku, Lu Yi, Huang Xiaoming (yes, the baddie from Sniper), Alec Su and Tong Dawei. Unfortunately, there is no joy in seeing an ensemble cast gathered here for this movie- simply because of how dire the circumstances are.
There are absolutely no laughs to be had, even though this is supposed to be a comedy. What comedic setups there are end up being either contrived or downright bizarre. Certainly, I can’t find any other way of describing two CGI-ed Honda Fits revving their engines, kissing bumpers and rolling over each other in the film’s obligatory happy ending. Nor are the dramatic setups any better- you’re more likely to get more unintentional laughs here than at the movie’s jokes.
Of course, Karena Lam is still a beguiling sight to behold. Unfortunately, she is much let down by the utterly tasteless material courtesy of scriptwriter Yi Ding and director Zhang Jianya. It’s that awful that I’m amazed this even got made. But what is definitely most shocking is how this movie has apparently been a big hit in China. Since it’s clearly proven to be no comedy, or drama, that fact alone should make it a horror film.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
None
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visual transfer is decent enough. Audio comes in dual Chinese and Cantonese tracks. Since this is a Mainland film, the film’s original track is in Chinese and the Cantonese is very obviously a dubbing. Sadly, the film’s Chinese Dolby 2.0 track sounds scratchy at times when the characters go high-pitch.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
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