DVD Hong Kong Mei Ah Region 0 96 minutes Directed by Liu Kim Wah Written by Wong Jing With Michelle Reis Karen Mok Shooky Kwan Kelly Lin Available to purchase at HKFlix.com 
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Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search R E V I E W The Irresistible Piggies (2002) Liu Kim Wa served as assistant director on films such as Somebody Up There Likes Me. He graduated to the director's chair with the little-heralded drama They Don't Care About Us in 1996. Subsequently he made Sunshine Cops (with Stephen Fung) in 1999, Marooned in 2000, and Shadow (again with Stephen Fung) in 2001. This film played in Hong Kong cinemas at the end of May 2002. MOVIE Plot: Four women working at the same company are termed "the pork chops" because they are not physically attractive. After a female executive schemes to have them laid off, the "pork chops" exact their revenge. Performances: Good comic work from the entire ensemble. Michelle Reis, Karen Mok (near unrecognizable for many minutes due to her "hairy" make-up), Shooky Kwan, and Kelly Lin played "the pork chops." Raymond Wong was the frequently flushing Sai Gwai (AKA Turtle), Stephen Fung was the physically attractive but morally deficient Alan, and Alex To was office boss Gordon. Also featuring Florence Kwok as the vicious and scheming Christine, and Matt Chow and Chapman To as two doctors who have different solutions to the "pork chops" dilemma. In small roles, Hui Shiu Hung and Chin Ching Man (as Turtle's father and sister, respectively) stood out. Production: The spirit of Wong Jing hangs heavy over this film. He's often been lewd and crude in the many scripts for which he has been credited. But little spark of invention or life was found in the three films he wrote and directed in 2001: Everyday is Valentine, Love Me, Love My Money, and My School Mate, the Barbarian. Happily, anarchy and bright-hearted fun rules the day in this film. Instead of focusing on one body part as the target of derision (as in the unsuccessful Beauty and the Breast), each of the "pork chops" has a different physical defect, and each has a measure of (fragile) self-confidence despite the hurtful insults they must endure. The male characters also have "defects," which tends to balance things out. The story moves along at a gallop, rarely slowing down as one comic situation after another is played out. All kinds of humor is thrown into the mix, including visual gags aplenty, wordplay (I'm sure I missed a number of jokes), a horror film parody, etc. Not all the nonsense works -- some is downright cruel and other bits may be offensive -- but overall I found it quite enjoyable. That being said, comedies are extremely subjective to one's individual sense of humor. What I found funny, you may not. Still, it's hard to go wrong here -- as long as you check your brain at the door. Rating: Category IIA for a few profanities, sexual references, and comic violence. DVD Look: The letterboxed presentation looked good, with adequately deep black levels. Flesh tones looked human, although colors were a bit muted. The source print appeared clean. Sound: Surprisingly, only mono Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks are included. They sounded OK, but I had to turn up the volume level in order to hear properly. Subtitles: At times, the white removable English subtitles flew by too quickly to read, likely an inevitable result of the lickety-split dialogue. Numerous misspellings were evident. Also included are traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles. Features: The original theatrical trailer is included (with perhaps 10-15 seconds of additional footage). Six chapters can be selected from a two page, video capture menu. A brief synopsis and cast & crew listing are included, along with descriptions of each of the eight main characters from the film. Note: Mei Ah now owns distribution rights to titles formerly distributed by China Star. China Star had built up a fine reputation for excellent DVD quality, while Mei Ah had distributed a number of sub-par titles (DVD quality-wise). This DVD has certain characteristics of Mei Ah (no extra features, for example), but the overall visual presentation is a welcome step up (a hallmark of China Star). Now if they can just kick in a DD 5.1 audio track . . . RECOMMENDATION Perhaps too eager to please, but refreshingly silly and chock-filled with jokes, funny ideas and scenes. Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search |