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Sammi Cheng has a penchant for starring in romantic comedies. After
all, what other genre has she starred in? From the okay-ish Feel
100%, the excellent Needing You, the mediocre Summer Holiday, the
enjoyable Wu Yen to the laugh-fest Love on a Diet, comes Fighting
for Love, another romantic comedy in the same genre. Actually, Fighting
for Love was released before Love on a Diet, but this is my first
viewing of it.
Sammi plays Siu Tong (English name Deborah),
a real ball-breaker of a bitch. She works as a manager of a manufacturing
company and acts like she's the boss. Her colleagues are all afraid
of her, and cowers every time she speaks to them, often to the point
of making them burst into tears. To put it simply, they hate her.
Tony Leung plays Tung Choi, who owns a famous
little eatery passed down from three generations, and is quite rich.
However, his family is as dysfunctional as a broken-down car in
a scrap heap, and Tung Choi takes it all in his stride, but the
one thing he feels he has no control over is his girlfriend Mindy,
a semi-famous celebrity who sort of controls his boring life.
Tung and Siu both encounter each other after
an amusing car incident, and they both meet up later to discuss
damages. When they do, they get positively slaughtered by the amounts
of alcohol they consume, and both end up in a hotel room having
sex. After this little incident, Siu loses her job and leaves home
after rowing with her father. Tung takes pity on the girl and offers
her a place to stay at his home, and things start to get a little
bit out of hand from this point on. Will Tung reveal his feelings
for Siu or would he marry his long-term girlfriend?
So, Fighting for Love, first impressions:
generally funny and enjoyable, but not great in the same instance
as Needing You or Love on a Diet. The first thing that put a smile
to my face is seeing Tony Leung star in a romantic comedy, something
he hasn't done for many years now. Leung is HK's best male actor,
and I have admired him ever since he starred in the 1982 Duke of
Mount Deer TV drama series. Since then, I have always made a point
to watch Tony Leung, whether it is a film or a TV drama series.
So it is nice and comforting to know that he hasn't lost his comedy
touch.
Sammi is Sammi, and she seems to be typecast
as the same ditzy girl from one film to the other. Apart from the
opening of the film where we witness a loudmouthed, doesn't give
a shit, wholesome spiteful attitude, she's almost the same. What
doesn't gives is how much her personality changes after she had
sex with Tung. From being a hated bitch, she becomes a cute, happy-go-lucky
gal who helps out others. So even a cold-hearted ice maiden will
get hot after a good seeing to.
Story-wise, it is pretty lacklustre stuff.
But this is more of a character driven film than a story driven
film. All of the characters are very endearing to watch, with the
most being Tung's hilarious family members. Dialogue is above-average,
with some great outbursts at the beginning, but after that, things
start to become a bit sane. In my opinion, I think Andy Lau is the
better on-screen partner for Sammi Cheng, but Tony Leung does a
convincing job. There are more laughs in the first half of the film
than the second, but they try not to let the overall feel-good tone
become lost when dealing with serious moments.
Overall, an endearing film with some good
casting. Those of you who have gotten used to seeing Leung in serious
roles will be positively enlightened to see him in a romantic comedy.
But I am glad that he has decided to take on this kind of role again
that had made him famous in the first place. Fighting for Love -
not brilliant, but worth a gander.
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