Ma mi xia (2014) Reviews

• Seldom Rises Above Drippy Melodrama of the Lowest Order

  ctowyi2015-06-24

  I am not sure which movie is louder and has more screams, Jurassic World or Wonder Mama. The only reason to watch this is Fung Bo Bo who is still a marvel to behold. However tried as she might, she just can't lift the film off the rut where it feels so comfortably being entrenched. Fung Bo Bo is no Wonder Woman. She plays a 49-year-old woman who is being earmarked for the post of Chief Librarian. She told the interviewer that she is unsure of the appointment and she needs to discuss with her father. The interviewer looked befuddled. So it is with 阿爱, she is a shell of a woman and she can't make decisions on her own. She lives with her son, Brad, her father and mother. The patriarch and matriarch are always at odds with each other and have screaming matches into the wee hours of the night. Brad lives a reclusive life in his room playing computer games to drown out the noise and expectations the world has for him. 阿爱 has no real friends and the one she considers someone she can bare her soul to is her doctor. She will make sure she is his last patient of the day so that he can devote all his time and attention on her. Clifton Ko's script seldom rises above drippy melodrama of the lowest order. There are times it almost manages to make some keen observations of people living with deep regrets, but they are quickly drowned out by over the top histrionics. The whole movie feels like leftovers and out-takes from TVB drama serials projected haphazardly onto the big screen. This has to be the first time I watched a movie which gradually deflates from its initial buoyancy to an all out flat-liner. The only good thing is we saw this in Cantonese which is a hoot. I can't imagine watching this in Mandarin.

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