R E V I E W :    Love Correction  

Reviewed 3/26/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Universe / 2000 / 98 minutes
Directed by Marco Mak Chi-Sin
Written by Sharon Hui Qui Long

Director Mak's second directorial effort of the year was based on a script by Sharon Hui. Her first produced script was The Tantana in 1991, a martial arts film for Sammo Hung. Subsequently she co-wrote The Lovers and Love in the Time of Twilight for Tsui Hark as well as Young and Dangerous 2 and Once Upon a Time in China and America.

The film was released in Hong Kong cinemas in October 2000.

Subsequently, director Mak made Cop on a Mission, and the Hui-scripted Queen of Kowloon and Martial Angels have been released.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: Emma picks up a coin dropped by co-worker Anson. Thinking her actions will bring her good luck (thanks to a half-heard radio show anecdote), she stubbornly holds on to it, despite Anson's efforts to inform her that picking up the coin will actually bring her bad luck. Indeed, for three days she suffers a spectacular run of bad luck, until the opportunity opens up to reverse the events of the past few days. Can she prevent bad luck from striking her again and live happily ever after with the man of her dreams?

Performances: Nick Cheung as Anson has little to do except stand on the sidelines, being noble and misunderstood. Athena Chu is reasonably effective as the lead character, Emma, yet hers is a reactive character rather than one who takes charge of things. Since she acts as our protagonist, the movie is slowly drained of life, although the does manage some reasonable actions toward the end of the story. Monica Chan is the only real bright spot as Porsh, but she is so upbeat and fun that it seems she has stumbled in from another (better) movie.

Production: Too many plot points rely on misunderstandings, to the frustrating point that I wanted to shout at the screen on a couple of occasions. The film keeps moving forward, but it's difficult to be very involved due to the mostly listless characters (Monica Chan's Porsh is the exception). Many of the scenes shot outdoors look cloudy and a bit dim. Conversely, some of the indoor scenes are flooded with too much light, washing out the colors and flesh tones. The surprisingly drab look of the film can be assigned to cinematographer Ko Chiu Lam (Green Snake, The Longest Nite, Expect the Unexpected). I would understand the look more if it changed midway through, to reflect the plot changes.

Rating: Category IIA. Some mature talk about sex.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The letterboxed (1.85:1) presentation looks OK. Note comments above about the cinematography. The disk displays the washed-out picture, evidently as designed by the filmmakers. I may be wrong, though, and the usually reliable Universe may have done a poor job. The source print is very clean.

Sound: The DD 5.1 Cantonese audio track is restrained. Considering the nature of the film, it's not surprising that the disk will not overheat your sound system. A DD 5.1 Mandarin audio track is also included.

Subtitles: Sporting removable white subtitles, the English version is easy to read with a number of mistakes causing no difficulty in comprehension. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.

Features: Eight chapters can be selected from the "Chapters" menu. Stars' files are provided for Nick Cheung, Athena Chu, and Monica Chan. The film's theatrical trailer is included. No other features are provided.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Disappointingly low-key and routine, this romantic film is enlivened only by the cheerful performance of Monica Chan.

 

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