SYNOPSIS:
Jiang
Man Da (KK) and Lu Ye Chang (Luke) are the most famous and
popular radio deejays. However, they have a bad attitude and
ego to deal with. One day, they are being fired by their superior
and ended up being shunned off by all the other major radio
stations as well. Out of job and down-and-out for several
months, they decided to attend a public audition for radio
deejays at a new radio station. Jiang Man Da and Lu Ye Chang
are surprised to see many old ladies applying for the job.
It turned out that the radio station is actually looking for
2 “Ah Po” (old lady) deejays for a new show. They then
disguise themselves as old ladies and got the job. Their momentum
as the “PoPo” deejays builds up and that is when the
fun begins.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Maybe there’s too much grouchiness
in this reviewer, or maybe it’s just his unfunny personality,
that he doesn’t find cross dressing (specifically, men
in drag) particularly amusing. He wasn’t very entertained
by Liang Po Po or Liang Si Mei (local celebrity Jack Neo’s
alter egos on TV), nor was he tickled silly by Karen Neo (Neo
in drag again) in this year’s Lunar New Year offering
Homecoming. So when he read about the premise of this Singapore
Malaysian movie, he was expecting the worst.
The movie’s protagonists are two prima
donna radio deejays who have all the fame and money one could
ask for. Their bad attitudes soon leave them jobless after
a heated argument, and they are forced to attend a public
audition meant for old folks. Forced by circumstances, they
transform themselves into grandmothers and get employed by
the station. What happens next is a series of gender jokes,
and surprise, surprise – a story of love and friendship.
But come on, grown men in grandmother outfits,
hoping to get a job – how much lower can things get?
To be fair, things aren’t as bad as
this reviewer thought. He actually found himself more engaged
than he thought he would. Throughout the movie’s 89
minute runtime, he found himself following the digestible
but very predictable storyline. There aren’t too many
surprises here, and the gags are not particularly hilarious,
but there is something rather likeable about the characters.
The credit probably goes to Malaysia's Chinese
radio deejay duo KK and Ah Luke, better known as "K6".
They play the fast talking deejays who are forced to put on
grandmother suits to get their lives going. Hearing the cross
talk between the pair is like listening to an engaging radio
show. And if you can get past the idea that deejays are to
be heard and not seen, then you’d enjoy the wittiness
of their on air hosting. To attract audiences from both sides
of the Causeway, Singapore’s Mindee Ong (playing the
love interest, of course), Alaric Tay (a jealous boyfriend),
Benjamin Heng (a fashionista) and Henry Thia (an inconsequential
father figure) are roped in to fill other roles.
Malaysian
director Adrian Teh, who previously produced popular Malaysian
singer songwriter A Niu's Ice Kacang Puppy Love (2010) knows
how to please his viewers, infusing humour, fun and love in
a serviceable commercial movie that will have the mass audience
chuckling in good nature. Too bad then, that this reviewer
isn’t too much of a fan when it comes to cross dressing,
or this DVD may just have gotten a kinder rating.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains a five minute Music
Video of the movie theme song, and a 14 minute
The Making Of behind the scenes clip.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
visual transfer of the movie looks fine on the TV screen.
Although both Cantonese and Mandarin tracks are available,
watch it in its original Cantonese dialogue for best effects.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review by John Li
Posted on 17 April 2011
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