R E V I E W :   Help!!!  

Reviewed 10/16/00 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Mei Ah / 2000 / 89 minutes
Directed by Johnny To and Wai Ka Fai

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Black comedies sound easy on paper but are deceivingly difficult to pull off. There has to be a certain amount of anger behind the comedy; if the audience does not sense the filmmakers' outrage, then the inevitable over-the-top humor is left stranded without a context. The best American example I can think of is Network, a fiercely funny and outrageous comedy with biting dramatic impact. Help!!! does not reach this level of accomplishment. It is a hit and miss affair, a comedy where a lot of things are thrown up at the wall and only about half stick. Part of the problem is that the anger expressed in the film towards the medical establishment is too scattershot. The targets are simply too broad and the attacks lack real bite.

That being said, It's hard to be too critical of a film that wears its lightweight intentions on its sleeve. Slapstick, after all, is not meant to be taken seriously, and Help!!! wants to please. On this score, the fast and frenetic visuals keep things moving along, and the large cast pops on and off the screen with such alacrity that it's difficult to find time to become bored. The performers seem adequate to the task.

I suppose the truest test is that I laughed a lot during Help!!!'s 89-minute running time, and that's the best recommendation I can make.

Category IIB. Some gory medical wounds

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

The video quality is OK. The print looks very clean, yet the palette chosen by the directors and cinematographer is pretty much monochromatic, with blue tones emphasized during the many night scenes and greens (appropriately enough) for the interiors. This makes for a fairly boring visual presentation. Overall the picture looks a touch soft (though not blurry), which was probably intentional due to the subject matter.

I listened to the Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, which sounded good (also available are the Mandarin DD 5.1 and both Cantonese and Mandarin DD 2.0). Subtitles include traditional and simplified Chinese as well as English. The white English sub-titles are good and seem to keep up well with the fast-paced dialogue, full of medical terminology (although some of it seems made up!).

Extras are limited to the "Best Buy" section, which holds trailers for A War Named Desire (intriguing though not compelling) and Love Paradox (curious-looking romance). It seems a strange oversight not to include the trailer for Help!!!

Buy, rent, or pass?

A fun exercise in medical tomfoolery, Help!!! deserves a rental and perhaps even a purchase if you are a fan of the film's stars or directors.

 

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