RoboCop
Jose Padilha
The story: Detroit cop Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is badly injured in a car-bomb blast when he gets on the trail of big-time criminal Antoine Vallon (Patrick Garrow). OmniCorp scientist Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) saves his life by encasing him within a robot. The company’s head honcho Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) hopes that RoboCop will be a hit with the public so that he can finally put his machines to work on American soil and make a killing in profits.

The original RoboCop (1987), directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Peter Weller, was both a critical and commercial hit, and spawned two sequels and spin-offs in television, video games and comic books.
This fourth instalment serves as a reboot of the lucrative franchise. It takes some of the themes tackled in the original movie, such as human nature, capitalism and the media, and pushes them further.
Interestingly, this RoboCop plays like a political thriller with sci-fi action thrown in.
The stakes are enormous for OmniCorp, a multinational conglomerate producing robots. Its drones are used to patrol volatile territories in Teheran and their use smacks of American imperialism at its worst as civil liberties are wantonly trampled upon.
But there is resistance to using robots on American soil and that is cutting into OmniCorp’s profits. And so the villainous Raymond Sellars makes use of the media with fanatical zealot and TV personality Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson in fiery mode) to argue the case for OmniCorp.
The other, critical, part of his plan is RoboCop.
Thus far, Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman is probably best known for playing a detective from 2011 to last year in the crime television series The Killing. He could well break out after his turn here.
There is a haunting scene here in which Alex faces the reality of being turned into a cyborg. All you see is his head, his lungs pumping away in a transparent case and a single disembodied hand. Kinnaman makes you feel his anguish when he says that he never wants to see himself that way again.
Because his humanity comes through so keenly, his transformation, no thanks to Dr Norton, into an emotionless and efficient machine is all the more affecting.
Brazilian director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad, 2007) makes his English-language debut here and does a credible job balancing the shoot-’em-up action scenes with Alex’s journey as well as the bigger picture in play.
But for those hoping to relive the past and the catchphrase, “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me”, this RoboCop might not hit the spot for you.
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Better Life
F.I.R.
Taiwanese pop- rock trio F.I.R. mark their 10th anniversary together with this, their seventh album.
Better Life does not sound like them at first – and that is a good thing.
Route 7 sounds fresher and more folksy than their signature slick style. You can almost feel the breeze in your hair when vocalist Faye Chan sings the opening lines: “Drive the car on the road/When I turn on the radio.”
They are headed in the right direction with this new turn and It’s You is another charmer.
Chan croons tenderly in the chorus: “It’s you, who make the tears melt, make me put down my recklessness, weave the future, our threads, into a painting.”
While previous albums offered fantasy and escape with tracks such as Atlantis, Arctic Circle and Fly Away, Better Life is more rooted in human relationships.
The title track is an upbeat number about love and friendship, while I Remember is wistfully nostalgic.
The band try to cover all bases, though, with the more familiar pop-rock of The Ocean Fighter.
They even venture into dubstep with Light Up The Way, but that only feels like a bit of a mis-step.
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Golden Chickensss
Matt Chow
The story: Kam (Sandra Ng) has worked her way up from being a prostitute to a mamasan. She now manages a coterie of girls, including the bucktoothed newbie Wu Lu (Ivana Wong). When former mob leader Gordon (Nick Cheung) is released from prison, Kam helps him adjust to the world today. The movie is a sequel to Golden Chicken (2002) and Golden Chicken 2 (2003).

With its irrepressible and bawdy humour and a sparkling line-up of cameos, Golden Chickensss offers laughs and star-gazing for, well, part of the family. Sandra Ng reprises the role that won her the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress in 2003 and is once again a hoot as the plucky Kam.
Having slept her way to management level, Kam now has to deal with a new challenges. Technology has changed the business and she has to line up her clients via telephone calls and text messaging. She also has to manage the girls’ time so they can maximise earnings in one night. Kam adapts and survives.
Among the girls under her care, eager newbie Wu Lu stands out. Singer Ivana Wong gives a hilarious performance in her big-screen debut with a mainland accent, loud clothes and huge chompers.
The glittery cameos are plenty of fun. The opening scenes trace prostitution through history and feature Anthony Wong in period garb haggling over the price and Donnie Yen as martial arts master Ip Man being solicited. Singer-actor Eason Chan appears as a small-time hoodlum, Edison Chen as a sleazy guy running a sex parlour in Tokyo and Shawn Yue as a subway rider with intense body odour.
Among the funniest are feted lyricist Wyman Wong as oral sex king Takuya as he dispenses advice to Hong Kong working girls and Louis Koo as a, um, Louis Koo impersonator.
Though it is a pity that cinemagoers here do not get to listen to the original Cantonese dialogue, some of the humour has survived the translation intact. For example, Koo has a stream of filthy patter about his hometown, Gang Men, also a homonym for anus.
Things get a bit draggy when former mob leader Gordon is released from prison and the focus shifts to him. Writer-director Matt Chow repeats the same point about how times have changed, but to lesser effect.
He should have just kept the focus on Ng.
Only in the anything-goes world of Hong Kong cinema could a prostitute named Kam become an iconic character. She can be loud and crude but she also has a great sense of humour and a heart of gold. And her never-say-die attitude is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the territory itself.
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From Vegas To Macau
Wong Jing
The story: Master gambler Ken (Chow Yun Fat) is rumoured to be able to tell the value of a playing card just by touching it. He is roped in by the police to bust money-laundering mastermind Ko (Gao Hu). Ken in turn enlists Cool (Nicholas Tse) and his cousin Karl (Chapman To) for the scheme. It so happens that Cool’s half-brother Lionel (Philip Ng) is an undercover cop investigating Ko as well. When Cool’s father (Benz Hui) is harmed and Ken’s daughter Rainbow (Tong Fei) is captured, things get personal.

Gambling is part and parcel of Chinese New Year for many people – nothing like a little vice to spice up the occasion. And considering the popularity of gambling flicks in the past, it is a no-brainer to release one in time for the holiday.
Director Wong Jing and actor Chow Yun Fat previously teamed up for action comedy God Of Gamblers (1989). It was a huge success and spawned several sequels, spin-offs and comedies, including Stephen Chow’s All For The Winner (1990).
While this film reunites Wong and Chow and also features a familiar theme, it is not a God Of Gamblers sequel. Instead of world-famous gambler Ko Chun, Chow plays a character named Ken here, although he is once again a legendary figure.
Sequel or not, it does not matter very much as plot and continuity have never been Wong’s strong suit. The prolific but wildly uneven film-maker has helmed fare running the gamut from appalling – Treasure Inn (2011) – to entertaining – Treasure Hunt (2011). He is in decent form here, with a few tricks up his sleeve when it comes to the gags. There is the inane sight of Chapman To having two hairy circles on his chest to Nicholas Tse mouthing rude nonsense to keep Rainbow at bay.
The likeable cast keep one watching as well.
Of late, Chow has tended to appear in serious, dramatic fare, such as The Last Tycoon (2012) and Confucius (2010), but let us not forget that he is one of the best comic actors around, with delirious turns in movies past, such as The Diary Of A Big Man (1988) and Let The Bullets Fly (2010). He gets to have some fun as Ken and gamely throws himself into the role, be it trading Cantonese couplets in song or holding court at the gambling table.
And it has to be said that even though you know it is all accomplished with sleight-of-hand editing and computer effects, it remains mesmerising to watch cards being shuffled and mahjong tiles being manipulated as the masters reveal their winning hands with a flourish. Wong even pokes fun at the cliched set-up with some unusual, and funny, winning hands.
Throw in truth serum, an artificial eyeball containing crucial evidence, disguises and some green-screen trickery for an important football match, and there is more than enough here to keep the movie moving along.
And in the tradition of Chinese New Year flicks, there is a festive greeting right at the end, as well as an unexpected cameo.
If you are looking for a bit of silly fun for the festive season, the odds are, this could be just the ticket.
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Songs Of Transience
Cheer Chen
To a Cheer Chen fan, time is waiting, and waiting is the space that stretches out between her releases. Almost five years after Immortal (2009), the Taiwanese singer-songwriter grapples with the concept of time on her sixth album.
The Chinese title is literally Songs About Time, with the concept of transience being only part of the story.
She muses on the title track that time is “a wasted heart”, “a river of death/ with no memories after an autopsy” and “a sound asleep face”. It is by turns merciless and tender.
Her contemplation takes a darker turn on A Box Of Rain, which pairs her composition with poet Hsia Yu’s lyrics: “I’m so lonely and unpredictable, I think I’ll slowly go mad.”
The ballad Gypsy In Memory is another lilting, meditative track, one that is filled with yearning: “Support me, let me come to a true stop/Hold you and complete a beautiful dream.”
She ponders the meaning of life on View With A Grain Of Sand. After setting up a series of questions, the chorus answers: “They say life is like a grain of sand/If Life could speak/She would say thank you for loving her/As the ocean loves the waves.”
Music-wise, it is mostly ballads and mid-tempo tracks with one or two surprises. She goes all hippie in the sitar- accompanied Peace & Revolution, singing about love and destiny.
Thoughtful, honest and poetic, these are songs worth waiting for.
(ST)

I, Frankenstein
Stuart Beattie
The story: The monster (Aaron Eckhart) created by Frankenstein finds himself caught in a battle between demons and gargoyles. The gargoyles seek to protect mankind and are led by queen Leonore (Miranda Otto). She names the creature Adam when the gargoyles rescue him from an attack. Fast-forward to the present day and Adam has had enough of hiding. He takes the battle to those who work for the demon prince Naberius (Bill Nighy), including unsuspecting scientist Terra (Yvonne Strahovski). Adapted by American actor-writer Kevin Grevioux from his graphic novel of the same name.

Not only did Frankenstein discover the secret of life, it would also appear that he discovered the secret to eternal youth as well.
Adam might be stitched together from various corpses, but he does not age or putrefy over decades and centuries. Actor Eckhart (The Dark Knight, 2008) even gives him a certain craggy sexiness with a patchwork of scars on his face and body and a ripped torso.
Little wonder that Naberius wants to abduct him for his own nefarious purposes.
It is ostensibly to animate an army of corpses, but it is probably to improve his own looks, given that demons have an unfortunate tendency to look hideous.
Unfortunately, the movie takes itself too seriously. Even though the fate of the world hangs in the balance (what? again?), director Stuart Beattie (scriptwriter for Australia, 2008) is not able to invest these stakes with much urgency or excitement.
There is also a glaring inconsistency over the critical plot point of whether Adam has a soul. On the one hand, only a creature with no soul can kill a gargoyle, who then ascends to the heavens. At the same time, a creature with no soul is susceptible to its body being occupied by another consciousness. Adam seems to waver between having a soul and having none – whenever it is convenient.
As the scientist searching for the secret of life, Strahovski (from TV’s spy comedy Chuck, 2007-2012) injects some lightness into the proceedings, even if she is there mostly as a kind of romantic distraction for Adam and, of course, to walk into danger.
There are also some cool battle scenes. Plus, the shots of the gargoyles transforming into human warriors are pretty nifty. Still, there is not enough here to bring this movie to life.
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August: Osage County
John Wells
The story: The patriarch of the Weston clan, Beverly (Sam Shepard), goes missing from the home he shares with his cancer-stricken wife, Violet (Meryl Streep), in rural Oklahoma. Family members congregate and emotions boil over in the sweltering heat. There is oldest daughter Barbara (Julia Roberts), who comes with her estranged husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their 14-year-old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin); middle daughter Karen (Juliette Lewis) with her inappropriately flashy fiance Steve (Dermot Mulroney); and youngest daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson). There is also Violet’s sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), her husband Charles (Chris Cooper) and their son Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch). Adapted by Tracy Letts from his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2007 stage drama of the same name.

If you are dreading that extended family reunion at Chinese New Year, here is one remedy – go watch August: Osage County. It is guaranteed to make you feel better about your own.
Violet is the mother who smothers, not with love but with withering putdowns and she tears into everyone over a session of vicious “truth- telling” at a family dinner.
She may be battling cancer of the mouth, but she is far from a sympathetic victim, thanks to her incessant pill-popping and verbal lacerations.
It is a dream role to tear into and Meryl Streep notches up her 18th Oscar nomination playing nasty. The actress has been much feted for her ability to take on different accents, but the transformation this time is more physical than linguistic.
In some scenes, her character is shown without a wig and the thin, patchy and unkempt hair gives her a touching vulnerability which her fighting words mask.
Then there is the all-out cat-fight with Julia Roberts as they tussle over a bottle of downers and the smashing of crockery at yet another awkward meal.
In the tradition of dysfunctional family plays such as Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1956), this is drama to the max and practically every actor gets a scene or two to show his or her stuff.
No wonder so many top names eagerly signed on for this adaptation by director John Wells, best known as the executive producer and showrunner of television shows such as ER (1994-2009).
Roberts gets to be angry and hurt and to swear a lot as her husband barks at her: “You’re a pain in the a**.”
There is a degree of Oscar-baiting about the film and she has been duly rewarded with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
There is so much bluster and fury, though, that it becomes a little draining to watch. And the specifics do not really stick and some of the talk, say, about the attractiveness of women, meanders about without being particularly interesting.
And because the volume is constantly set to high, the dramatic revelations lose some of their impact as family secrets eventually tumble into the open.
Some of the more touching moments come from Julianne Nicholson’s wallflower Ivy and Benedict Cumberbatch’s earnest and klutzy Little Charles, the antithesis of his best-known role as the brilliant and cold Sherlock Holmes.
Eventually, the toxic cruelty even gets to the laidback Charles, who lashes out: “I don’t understand why you have to be so mean.”
It is a question that you might well ask yourself.
(ST)

Happiness
Soo Wincci

Say The Words
Qu Wanting

Malaysia’s Wincci Soo is a former beauty queen, but don’t hold that against her as a singer. There is a porous quality to her voice – like ceramic which lets light through – which sets her apart from the crowd. It borders on being fragile, but possesses an underlying sense of strength.
Her pipes are best showcased on ballads and mid-tempo tracks, and the album – considered her second record, apart from some releases meant only for her home market – wisely opens with a few of them in a row. I’ll Be Alright puts a different spin front on the aftermath of a break-up: “Frankly, I’ve been happy all this while/That’s why I feel bad.”
The faster-paced numbers such as Scary Scary Night and the dance number The Whisperer feel a little out of place after that mellow opening, although they do serve to show her versatility in tackling different genres of material.
A more cohesive effort is China-born Vancouver-based Qu Wanting’s Say The Words. If you are looking for more of the lush piano-backed pop of her previous hit, You Exist In My Song, there is Love Ocean and When It’s Lonely.
Love Ocean is already a radio hit and it draws on the singer-songwriter’s own story: “Living in another land, my ambition is aimed far away/Your love makes me strong/You clap for me as the song lingers/Immersed in an ocean of love.”
It is not just more of the same, though.
Opening English track Time, My Friend has a slinky Latin groove to it, while STHU, short for shut the hell up, reveals a feisty side to the singer.
Not everything works here. Joker Needs Laughter, for example, is just too repetitive in its use of the title phrase.
But at least you get a sense that everything on this album is exactly what Qu wants to convey.
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The Legend Of Hercules
Renny Harlin
Director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, 1990) serves up an entertaining romp here packed with spectacle and action. With the help of handsome sets and CGI, he brings the ancient world of mythic Greece to life.
The film draws on the stories surrounding the demigod Hercules, son of Zeus and a mortal woman. In one sequence, he wrestles and kills the ferocious Nemean Lion.
Too bad the creature looks patently fake, so it is a good thing the film is not focused on the canonical 12 labours of Hercules.
Instead, there is family drama and romance as Hercules clashes with his elder brother, heir to the throne, over the beautiful Hebe (Gaia Weiss).
There are also bloody battles and intense death matches, filmed in loving close-ups and lingering slow motion.
Kellan Lutz, best known for playing vampire Emmett Cullen in The Twilight Saga film series, gets leading-man billing here. He brings muscles and a suitably stoic heroism to the beefcake jock Hercules, who must learn to accept his true identity and his destiny.
Channing Tatum will have to start looking over his shoulder.
(ST)

Hours
Eric Heisserer
The story: Nolan (Paul Walker) is at a hospital in New Orleans with his pregnant wife Abigail (Genesis Rodriguez) when Hurricane Katrina hits. His newborn daughter is put on a ventilator and he is told to stay with her. But as the hours pass and the powerful storm wreaks havoc, the hospital is evacuated. It is up to Nolan to ensure that the machine keeps working so that she can live.

This is a low-budget high-concept film banking on the appeal of actor Paul Walker. But with the untimely death of the Fast And Furious star in a car accident in November last year, this slight work now has to bear the weight of being one of his final movies.
Walker does a decent job and reminds you that there is more to him than the good-looking guy who does the racing flicks. He brings an easy charm to the flashback scenes with his onscreen wife and then channels grief, anger and desperation when the going gets tough. And then for much of the film, he has no one else to play off except an unresponsive infant.
Unfortunately, the story is not the best vehicle for him.
Scriptwriter Eric Heisserer makes his directorial debut here and he does not have a good grasp of pacing. In fact, there is an odd lack of urgency at first and that does not bode well for a purported thriller.
He certainly does not make things easy for himself by largely confining the action to one room in an evacuated hospital and having the story hinge on keeping a machine working.
Of course, that seemingly straightforward task gets more and more complicated with each passing hour. First, the power goes out and Nolan has to manually wind up a battery that powers up the ventilator for only three minutes each time.
And then other obstacles gradually surface which he has to somehow overcome while running back to the room every few minutes.
As a writer, Heisserer’s credits include A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) and Final Destination 5 (2011) and this background makes its way into Hours as well – in the form of red herrings.
Whenever the movie threatens to take a turn into horror territory, courtesy of obvious musical cues, it always veers away and it starts to feel like a cheap tactic.
Fans of Walker could still find the movie worth watching as he pretty much carries the entire thing. But others might well end up watching the clock instead.
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Before we dive headlong into another year of new music offerings, let's take a last look at 10 albums I've enjoyed in the past 12 months. Here they are, in no particular order.

52 Hertz (52赫兹), The Verse: Indie singer-songwriter Cheer Chen teams up with her producer boyfriend Tiger Chung and noted composer Chen Chien-chi for a thoughtful and fruitful exploration of electronica.


Angel vs Devil (天使与魔鬼的对话), Tanya Chua (蔡健雅): The follow-up to her Golden Melody Ward-winning Sing It Out Of Love (2011) finds her in a conflicted place emotionally - and that is good news for the record.

Autumn: Stories(秋：故事), sodagreen(苏打绿): In keeping with the season, the mood is autumnal as summer slips away and leaves begin to fall. The use of traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu and flute add to the sense of melancholy.

Ayal Komod(我是海雅谷慕), Chang Chen-yue(张震岳): He steps out under his aboriginal name and offers up a laidback sun-sea-and-surf vibe. He also takes stock of life and shakes his head at the emptiness of material pursuits.

Back To Wonderland (回到未来), Khalil Fong(方大同): The singer-songwriter's assured musicality is on full display as he dabbles in R&B, soul, pop, rock, jazz and even funk.

Coexistence (共存), Denise Ho (何韵诗): Coming out has freed her as an artist and she is honest and open here - completely comfortable in her own skin at last.

Fragile (易碎物), Tizzy Bac: The fragility of life serves as muse but the band are more than one-note doomsday purveyors as the rich and epic album also celebrates life.

A Low-Key Life (低调人生), Sandee Chan (陈珊妮): This harks back to the darker-themed electronica of If There Is One Thing That Is Important (2008). The music and vocals are soothing, but there is nothing low-key about the emotions and ideas.

Renovate (你所不知道的杜振熙之内部整修), Soft Lipa (蛋堡): The rapper holds nothing back over a sprawling two-disc set and the results are provocative, confessional and deeply personal.

You Quietly Hide Away (你安安静静地躲起来), Ellen Loo (卢凯彤): Her emotions are all on display on her sophomore album and the songs go from quiet devastation to lashing out at someone who had hurt her. Bonus points for putting on a playful and electrifying gig at the Esplanade in Jan.

Lion Roar
Show Lo
On his 10th studio album, Taiwanese singer Show Lo makes like a lion – and ends up releasing a whimper.
The criticisms came think and fast as he was accused of copying South Korea’s G-Dragon, from his golden head of hair down to his fashion style. The more egregious sin though is the way the music rips off K-pop. From its synth break to falsetto ooh-hoo’s, lead single Cast The Net Of Love is just too reminiscent of tracks such as Fantastic Baby by Big Bang, the band G-Dragon leads. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Big Bang must be blushing from all the attention.
Lo’s limitations as a singer reveal themselves again on the ballad A Promise That’s Not Over.
At least the cute Minnan track Cherish With My Life, penned by the singer, offers something different and unexpected.
On the title track, he boasts: “I’m not afraid to take on challenges, keep breaking through to something new”. Unfortunately, the words which ring more true are on Love Lied To Me, another track Lo penned: “I am sorry, I am sorry, baby.”
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As The Light Goes Out
Derek Kwok
The story: A perfect storm of factors come together, on Christmas Eve no less, to create a fiery disaster. A liquor warehouse goes up in flames. If it spreads to a nearby power plant, Hong Kong will be plunged into darkness. Senior firefighter Sam (Nicholas Tse) has to wrest control of the situation together with his buddy Chill (Shawn Yue), China-transfer Ocean (Hu Jun) and old hand Li (Simon Yam).

Think fires are dangerous? It is the smoke that is often more lethal.
We are informed as such at the start of the movie and it also indicates how As The Light Goes Out intends to distinguish itself from other fire disaster flicks.
And the smoke is indeed impressively menacing in its various incarnations from poisonous yellow fumes to thick smothering blankets of it which reduce visibility to almost zero.
Add in greedily devouring flames and the threat of explosions and collapsing walkways and buildings and there is drama aplenty on the screen.
Writer-director Derek Kwok (Gallants, 2010), however, is not content with incendiary action alone and ups the stakes on the plotlines.
But in trying to top the drama of the fire, he ends up with overwrought stories instead.
For starters, there is the backstory of how Sam, Chill and Yip (Andy On) once disobeyed orders on the ground.
Yip was later promoted ahead of the other two and now, Yip and Sam are classic frenemies.
And every other firefighter has a tragic past and/or troubled present.
Sam doubts himself because of the incident, and on top of which, things are strained with his girlfriend.
Chill, who is separated from his wife, has a son who happens to be on a school visit to the power plant on the day things go horribly wrong.
And what are the chances that the over-achieving Ocean had lost his son in a fire?
As the blaze rages away, the characters are propelled by everything from fatherly love and the possibility of redemption to sheer bravery.
Oh, and there is a typhoon about to strike as well.
There is just too much going on.
It does not help that when the actors are all suited up in their firefighting outfits, it can be rather challenging trying to identify exactly who is whom, even with a solid cast of actors.
There is Nicholas Tse (The Viral Factor, 2012) putting on a stoic front as Sam, Shawn Yue (Love In The Buff, 2012) as a distressed dad and Simon Yam (Control, 2013) chewing up scenes as the tough and gruff Li.
What the film does offer is a series of intense sequences in which lives hang in the balance.
As well as possibly the most heroic cigarette ever lit up on screen.
(ST)

Delivery Man
Ken Scott
The story: David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) works as the delivery man for his family’s meat company. He is not the most reliable guy around, which is why his pregnant girlfriend Emma (Cobie Smulders) wants to raise their child on her own. And then David finds out that he is the biological father of 533 children, thanks to his repeated contributions as a sperm donor in his younger days. When 142 of them sue to learn his identity, his lawyer friend Brett (Chris Pratt) fights to keep his name under wraps.

David Wozniak is something of a loser.
He is in his late 30s or early 40s and still behaving like an irresponsible kid. He is in debt to some dubious characters and cannot even be trusted with something as simple as bringing along the basketball uniforms for the company’s employees for a photo shoot. Somehow, he manages to screw that up.
As played by Vince Vaughn, though, David is an affable loser.
He means well and there is a sweetness at his core that draws people to him.
After a string of mediocre comedies such as Couples Retreat (2009) and The Internship (2013), Vaughn proves that he can still be funny and winsome in the right film.
Chris Pratt, from television comedy Parks And Recreation, is a great foil for him and funny in his own right as a harassed and overwhelmed parent of four young children.
The humour here is more amiably low-key than aggressively brazen. Director and co-writer Ken Scott manages to keep things interesting by putting likable people in ludicrous situations.
After finding out that he has sired 533 progeny, David begins to surreptitiously tail them.
He starts to feel protective of them and turns into a guardian angel figure trying to do what is best for them.
The wide array of situations his children are in seems to make a good argument that nurture is stronger than nature.
From aspiring actor to sports star, from drug-using daughter to confidently gay son, genetics are no match for the requirements of a movie.
Crises get resolved too easily and the logistics of being a guardian angel to over 100 people would wear down anyone to the bone, let alone a meat delivery guy with very limited resources.
But when David’s children come together for a family camping outing, it is an oddly touching and moving sight.
As he himself puts it: “It may be strange, and a bit oversized, but it’s my life.”
If you are hankering for a serving of warm and fuzzy feelings topped with a dash of humour, then this film delivers.
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