Perfect Rivals
Han Yew Kwang
The story: Zhen Mei Mei (Irene Ang) and Chen Hao (Ha Yu) used to be lovebirds but are now bitter bak kwa business rivals. When a competition is announced, Mei Mei sends her younger adopted daughter Yuan Yuan (Mindee Ong) to spy on her next-door competitor. While disguised as a man, Yuan Yuan finds herself falling for Chen’s younger son Xiao Hu (Josh Lai).
This overcooked offering is simply all over the place. There is the food feud plot where the traditional way is pitted against modern and new-fangled methods, previously seen in comedies such as Chicken And Duck Talk (1988).
The contrast is seen between Mei Mei’s bright and shiny shop and Chen Hao’s dingy old-school set-up complete with wooden signboard. There is also a dig at her use of slick marketing with a Korean star.
But this was not enough for writer- director Han Yew Kwang to explore and he goes on to pile on the ingredients.
Fuelling the clash is the fact that the two business rivals used to be lovers. There is a complicated back story told in clunky chunks of flashbacks where we find out that Mei Mei was actually Chen Hao’s bak kwa master’s woman.
The younger version of the couple is played by different actors and just as well since Ang and Ha Yu do not make you believe for a moment that they could have been in love.
Then there are the other plot strands dealing with their children. The industrial espionage angle is merely a ploy for Mindee Ong to dress as a man so that she can fall for Xiao Hu. This gender-bender romance is another recycled plot element, seen in the hit Korean TV drama The 1st Shop Of Coffee Prince (2007).
The sin is not so much in the recycling as in the fact that it does not work. Ong and Josh Lai are a rather mismatched pair: She brings some spunk to her character while he lurches about unconvincingly as a drunkard. Worse, there is an icky scene involving vomit and her taking a bath.
On top of that, there is the adopted older daughter Zhen Zhen (Pamelyn Chee) – which, yes, makes her name Zhen Zhen Zhen – and the connection she forges with Chen’s older son Xiao Ma (Taiwanese singer Stanly Hsu), who is soft in the head.
Apart from the unwieldy story, there are smaller details which niggle, such as Ang’s bad wig and the bizarre character of Mickey (Malaysian actor Alvin Wong), Mei Mei’s bodyguard- lover-cum-creepy-mascot.
On his previous film When Hainan Meets Teochew (2010), Han took one idea – effeminate man meets masculine woman – and ran with it.
This time round, he tries unsuccessfully to mix heartwarming family drama, gross-out comedy and scattered social commentary.
Unfortunately, the result is too tough to swallow.
(ST)