Lai see

Born 36 years ago in the year of the pig, Peng has progressed to a perfect spot in his life. Well, "perfect" being a relative word since he is single, plays video games all the time, eats junk food and works in IT support when he is seen as a fat pig by his colleagues. When a red envelope drops through his door with a note showing a map to a place of treasure and reward, Peng assumes it is a lottery ticket that will change his life. He is wrong about the former but perhaps the latter is true.

I do not often see the main Sky movie channels showing short films so when I spotted this one in the listings I assumed that it must have a certain something that meant it became one of the few to make it onto the channel and so I taped it. From the very start the tone was all wrong as it delivered this weirdly jaunty jokey tone in regards the music and look but not in the material. This air continues across the film without any sign that it will be clever or funny. Instead what the film is is a "message" film about getting from life what you put into it or, more specifically, volunteering to help others in need is more rewarding than sitting in your bedsit playing video games on your tod.

This is a worthy enough message but sadly the film totally fumbles it. By trying to build on top of this rather strange and unsuccessful comic feel the film cannot get any sense of the value of the message and just extends the unfunny delivery. To make matters worse, scenes of Peng volunteering are delivered with this terribly woolly, multi-cultural, middle-class "help the little people" feel that is really off putting and simplistic. For all his weaknesses as writer, Wu backs up his back ideas with bad delivery as well, drawing really bad performances from everyone. The "real people" at the end I can forgive (although they are painfully "am-dram" or awkward) but the main two are really misjudged. Tan and Yu overact in a really silly fashion; credit to them for trusting the director that this would work but the truth is that it just doesn't and they come off looking silly (Yu's flapping particularly uninspired).

Worthy message then but a terrible way to deliver it.

I just loved this film. It is very quirky and sends a very good message to everyone.

It is about a man who is a bit of a lazy loser who is visited by a Chinese New Year pig and is delivered a message in a Lai See (red envelop which is used during Chinese New Year usually with money in it). This then takes him on a journey into self discovery and to gain greater meaning in life. Sometimes such messages like "Give More, Get More" can come across as dull and boring but this film delivered it in such a fun and quirky story that it really was inspiring.

The style of the film is very much like those crazy Hong Kong Stephen Chow hammed up comedies and the characters are very hammed up. It even has some Cantonese in it and the Fay character played by Elizabeth Tan is really funny and adorable. Jon Yu's character also becomes very likable by the end of the story and the message really gets across. He becomes more attractive to everyone as he has a new attitude to life. I think this film will really appeal to those Chinese people who like those silly Hong Kong comedies that get a little crazy. I really enjoyed it. And I hope to helps to change peoples perspectives on life even if just for a little while.