Movie Review: Love Is the Only Answer/人約離婚後

Okay, this is shameful. This review was saved as a draft on July 17. But I’ve been incredibly busy since I saw this film, so at least I have a good reason for the late review. And as you may have guessed, this film is not a must-see-in-cinema experience. It’s not even a must see.

Love Is the Only Answer/人約離婚後 is the latest film from director/misanthrope/serial abuser of twist endings Patrick Kong. The helmer of such irredeemably raunchy films as Marriage with a Liarand Love Connected, among others, Mr. Kong has, of late, found his niche and is burrowing along in it like a mole with a crystal meth habit.

Then again, he made  Mr. & Mrs. Single/隱婚男女, for which he should have a mole placed somewhere very Richard Gere-like.

But I digress.

Love Is the Only Answer/人約離婚後 is the story of an unmarried couple played by Charmaine Sheh Sze Man/佘詩曼   and Alex Fong Lik Sun/方力申 . They were supposed to get married, but the ceremony gets destroyed when wife-to-be Bo plays a video of her fiance in flagrante erecto with another woman. She plays it at the wedding banquet.

But this doesn’t mean they can’t still be friends.

The suspension of disbelief necessary here meets the same endurance and strength requirements as the suspension used on vehicles that race in the Dakar Rally.

The film chronicles the odd relationship between these two people and the ways in which they constantly attract and repel one another. There are, of course, romantic plots aplenty and more than a few occasions where condoms are used.

This is a Patrick Kong film after all.

The story is pedestrian, and the filmmaking shoddy, but its not without its odd charms. I was surprised that I wasn’t offended, and I wasn’t even disappointed.

Truth be told, I enjoyed Love Is the Only Answer/人約離婚後. It was silly and disposable, but in a very non-insulting way. It was fluffy garbage, but it entertained me, and that’s really all I ask for. That may sound shocking, but these days I will take what I can get.

Even more surprisingly, I really enjoyed Alex Fong’s acting. He steals Andy Lau’s smart-arse schtick whole, but he manages to display enough wit and comic timing to really carry off the role and to make this film much more entertaining than it has any real right to be. I found myself, shockingly, laughing out loud quite a lot of the time.  He has a number of small, probably ad-libbed quips that he delivers with more style than I’d ever thought possible from the same guy who made Bullet & Brain.

I admit I also had other good reasons to be cheerful. Kerry was visiting from the UK and was brave enough to join the Gang of Film (電影人幫) when we watched this movie at the Newport Cinema in Mong Kok (the Dynasty showtimes were just too hard to work around). She seemed rather quiet, but it was probably just being surrounded by 6 unrepentant film geeks in their natural habitat. I hope she enjoyed herself (and the movie), and she assured me she did. I was very glad to meet her and I hope she joins us again, hopefully for a better film!