Friday, January 21, 2022

A Little TLC(w): My Lucky Star (2003)

This is another Tony Leung Chiu-wai movie that I can fully acknowledge isn’t all that great, but I still kind of enjoy it anyway. It’s a cheesy rom-com, of which Leung’s made more than I would have expected going into A Little TLC(w), and the premise is overly on-the-nose. But despite all that, there’s something about it that does tickle me.

Yip Ki Hung is quite possibly the unluckiest woman in the world. Absolutely nothing goes her way, ever. Unbeknownst to her, her family was cursed with bad luck several generations earlier, and even more unbeknownst to her, it was due to an ancestor of the very man she thinks can help her: Lai Liu Po, celebrity feng shui expert. When she seeks out his services, Liu Po finds himself wanting to help her despite her limited funds and the chills he feels when she’s around (a side effect of the curse.) Will he help Ki Hung turn her luck around, or will he back out for fear of her bad luck affecting him?

That’s a goofy summary, but it’s kind of a goofy movie. Ki Hung’s bad luck is absurdly over-the-top – she’s forced to gargle with soy sauce when her water shuts off, and she’s been held up by multiple cabbies in the space of a month – as are her own fastidious attempts to get her feng shui in line, such as the compass on her toilet seat. Lots of the humor is broad and loud, and some of it is offensive, including a sequence that relies heavily on homophobic and transphobic jokes. While individual wild events within the story come as a surprise, the overall direction of the film is telegraphed from the word go.

And yet, there is something fun about it. I like that Ki Hung (charmingly played by Mariam Yeung, who also starred opposite Leung in Sound of Colors) maintains a sunny brightness in the face of all her bad luck, and no matter how desperate she is for her luck to improve, she doesn’t want to put anyone else in its unfortunate path. When the frantic nature of the comedy settles down a little, there are nice moments of sweetness and chemistry between the leads.

Speaking of which, let’s get to Leung. As Lai Liu Po, he is all business, a feng shui guru who knows his stuff inside out and is always on the lookout for the most auspicious conditions. He plays by the rules at all times, especially the rules of feng shui, which puts him a little at odds with Ki Hung’s chaotic life even without knowing she’s one of the cursed Yips. Though the role is far from challenging, Leung does a nice job showing Liu Po’s gentle slide from rigidity into something more open, risking his own good luck on behalf of someone else. He and Yeung have an enjoyable back-and-forth together, his cool professionalism against her wild warmth.

Recommend?

In General – Possibly? It’s not great, but if you’re in the mood for something silly and light, it’s cute enough.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Maybe. It’s not a must, and there’s nothing revelatory here, but Leung is entertaining in the role

Warnings

Offensive humor (including homophobic/transphobic “jokes,”) a little violence, sexual references, and language.

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