Love Matters 《幸福万岁》

Love Matters《幸福万岁》Running Time: 117 min
Language: Mandarin with English, Malay and Chinese subtitles
Directors: Jack Neo and Gilbert Chan
Cast: Yeo Yann Yann, Henry Thia

Trailer Link: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=xzVgbZE22Jk

“Family man treads on the path of infidelity, swinging bachelor finds true love.” It pains me to write this. Because it matters to the future of Singapore’s movie industry to have yet another disappointing local movie go down the drain and into the local movie history. Jack Neo’s latest offering of Love Matters offers nothing like his previous part-comedy, part-satire and part-social commentary he is, or should I say, WAS adept in.
The two God-brothers, the protagonists of the movie, did not have enough plot lines and character to ensure viewers are drawn to them and rooting for them. The writing in terms of character and story development is lacklustre at the very least. The brothers, the antithesis of each other, one a devoted family man, the other a swinging bachelor hold differing views on love and marriage.
The premise has been set but every single plot line was not explored. In fact, Love Matters seem to me to be a mish-mash of local and world news pieced together to become a 117 minute-long movie. Lusty old men being conned by nubile females, school kids getting embroiled in sex videos posted on the Internet, husband and wife losing the mojo and going to quack doctors to seek help, a Casanova threatened with castration. Sounds familiar? Sounds interesting? Well it could have been but these news were poorly exploited by Jack Neo. So what went wrong, especially since this film marks his first-time collaboration with Gilbert Chan, a fellow scriptwriter and director.
How did the plot go so wrong, or turn up so weak when both directors are “scriptwriter” and “director”? What was Jack Neo, the Cultural Medallion winner, the highest accolade in the contribution to the Arts in Singapore, thinking? Especially since this movie is supposed to set a new direction for him to nurture local filmmakers and dazzle the movie industry?
The poor acting of the school kids and the wrong casting of the Casanova, hello, flabby, unshaven, uncharismatic, un-handsome??? Hello Jack, so what if he is a DJ in Malaysia? An unkempt, fat and average-looking Casanova? What were you thinking? Were you trying to win over the Malaysian audience by filming the very bland side of Malaysia? By casting as many Malaysians as possible? By requesting your cast speak with a funny accent? What happened to cinematography? Whatever happened to art direction? Apart from a couple of night scenes, Kuala Lumpur has never looked more flat and insipid.
Did you reach an agreement with Mark Lee to cast him in all your movies, even if no roles are suitable? Was it absolutely necessary to cast him as a pseudo-Thai gigolo speaking the same Thai greeting line that he can master over and over again in his ten minute appearance? I have never visited a gigolo nightclub so edify me if gigolos look anything like Mark Lee?
The only saving grace was Yeo Yann Yann’s splendid performance as the housewife who gave her all to the family and has to deal with her husband’s infidelity. But limited by the weak development of her character, there was only so much she could give to the movie. If Love Matters is what Jack Neo is capable of churning out year after year, then we say forget about it Jack. Spend more time on the script, the audience can wait.