Ice Kacang Puppy Love
A-niu

The concept of the star-studded ensemble cast gets transplanted to this region with the debut feature of singer-turned-film-maker A-niu.
The cast is a veritable who’s who of Malaysia-born pop stars, including Angelica Lee as A-niu’s onscreen crush, Fish Leong as a silent admirer, Gary Chaw as a cowardly bully and, most memorably, Eric Moo as a blustery ne’er-do-well.
While most of the actors are already in their 30s, it is to their credit that nothing about their portrayals of high- school students is particularly jarring.
And writer-director A-niu’s choice of leading man was no ego-stroking exercise but clearly a case of the right man for the right job. With his crooked teeth and sadsack face, crew cut and get-up of singlet and flipflops, he makes you root for the underdog. Then again, the role should not be too much of a stretch given that the story was based on A-niu’s own experiences.
Apart from the pleasures of pop star-gazing, the film also lovingly evokes the simple joys of life and is as much an ode to small-town Malaysia as it is to first love.
(ST)