Perfect Wedding
抱抱俏佳人
Hong Kong, 2010, colour, 2.35:1, 99 mins.
Director: Huang Zhenzhen 黄真真 [Barbara Wong].
Rating: 8/10.
Charming, glossy rom-com with comedienne Yang Qianhua [Miriam Yeung] back on top form.
STORY
Hong Kong, the present day. Sun Luoxin (Yang Qianhua) and Ling Yufeng (Lin Feng) meet at a party, bond over a novel by Dan Brown, and have a one-night stand. By chance next day, Ling Yufeng, who is a professional registrar, finds himself working alongside Sun Luoxin, who runs a wedding-planning business called Perfect Wedding. Embarrassed, she swears him to secrecy over their liaison but starts to warm to him again when his mother (Mai Lingling), who runs a foot-massage business, helps her to get Lady Gaga (Elena S.) to the wedding party of some demanding clients (Liu Yida, Ankie Beilke). On a TV chat show, Sun Luoxin is further embarrassed when a secret of her past is exposed: three years ago she was left at the altar by her fiance, famous photographer Zheng Yongkang (Ge Minhui). Sun Luoxin and Ling Yufeng slowly grow closer, but Sun Luoxin is wary of any commitment and the news leaking out to her gossipy girl friends (Mao Shunyun, Xu Zishan, Liao Bi’er, Zhu Xuan). And then Zheng Yongkang complicates matters by asking her for a second chance.
REVIEW
Glossily shot by d.p. Xie Zhongdao 谢忠道 [Kenny Tse] (The Stool Pigeon 线人, 2010; Break Up Club 分手说爱你, 2010) and especially smoothly cut by ace editor Zhong Weizhao 钟炜钊 [Azrael Chung], Perfect Wedding 抱抱俏佳人 is a modern Hong Kong rom-com par excellence, with no attempt to reach out culturally or linguistically even to audiences in China or Taiwan. Reaching back to the classic yuppie rom-coms of the 1980s, it’s as shallow as a puddle but beautifully played by the whole cast. It also shows comedienne-singer Yang Qianhua 杨千嬅 [Miriam Yeung], after a wobbly few years, back on the top form she displayed in her classic rom-coms of the early 2000s (Dummy Mommy, without a Baby 玉女添丁, 2001; Dry Wood, Fierce Fire 乾柴烈火, 2002) and which hasn’t been seen since her 2007 Hooked on You 每当变幻时. Yang’s unique combination of straight-faced humour and bemused double-takes finds a perfect recipient in young TVB contract actor Lin Feng 林峰 [Raymond Lam], 15 years her junior, who’s a much starrier and brighter presence here than in the recent The Jade and the Pearl 翡翠明珠 (2010).
The biggest surprise, however, is the name on the can – director Huang Zhenzhen 黄真真 [Barbara Wong] (Women’s Private Parts 女人那话儿, 2000; Truth or Dare: 6th Floor Rear Flat 六楼后座, 2003) who’s laid aside all her film-schooly affectations and delivered a slick, utterly commercial movie that works on its own level. Though it’s produced and made by the same team as her previous Break Up Club – including producer/co-writer Zheng Danrui 郑丹瑞 [Lawrence Cheng] – there’s no comparison between the two movies, partly because Huang doesn’t try to push the paper-thin material (ambitious career woman is afraid to commit to a younger one-night-stander) beyond its limits. Perfect Wedding simply sets out to entertain, without any stylistic affectations or the director imposing herself between the cast and the audience.
Aside from sympathetic turns by veterans like Wu Yaohan 吴耀汉 [Richard Ng] and Mai Lingling 麦玲玲, the rest of the cast is also a great deal of fun, especially Mao Shunyun 毛舜筠 [Teresa Mo] leading a female chorus of gossipy friends that includes TVB actresses Xu Zishan 徐子珊 (14 Blades 锦衣卫, 2010) and Chinese Canadian Liao Bi’er 廖碧儿 [Bernice Liu] (The Legend Is Born: Ip Man 叶问前传, 2010).
CREDITS
Presented by Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) (HK), Television Broadcasts (HK), Sil-Metropole Organisation (HK). Produced by Concept Legend (HK).
Script: Zheng Danrui [Lawrence Cheng]. First draft script: Hou Yingheng. Original story: Huang Zhenzhen [Barbara Wong], Zheng Danrui [Lawrence Cheng]. Photography: Xie Zhongdao [Kenny Tse]. Editing: Zhong Weizhao [Azrael Chung]. Music: Mai Zhenhong [Brother Hung]. Art direction: Mo Shaozong [Alex Mok]. Costume design: Ye Jiayin. Sound: Chen Weihong, Chen Guowei, Huang Yongnian. Animation: Asia Legend.
Cast: Yang Qianhua [Miriam Yeung] (Sun Luoxin), Lin Feng [Raymond Lam] (Ling Yufeng), Mao Shunyun [Teresa Mo] (Doris/Dodo), Xu Zishan (Remmy), Liao Bi’er [Bernice Liu] (Mimi), Zhu Xuan (Fanny), Zhou Xiuna (Flora), Ao Jianian (Yong), Weng Jia’ni (Little Princess), Ge Minhui [Eric Kot] (Zheng Yongkang/Kelvin), Mai Lingling (Ling Yufeng’s mother), Wu Yaohan [Richard Ng] (Zhang), Ankie Beilke (Jessica), Hong Zhuoli (Louis, Zhang’s son), Tang Yi (Vivian), Liu Yida [Tats Lau] (Zhao Shan, Jessica’s husband), Bai Yunqin (TV show host), Gao Haining (Lavina), Chen Zhishen (philanthropist), He Ao’er (bride in bathrobe), Li Hao, Shen Zhenxuan, Zhang Jingchun, Luo Junman (Louis’ friends), He Juncheng (Lin Zhong, groom in bathrobe), Jacco Yeung, Lin Keren (Olympic athletes), Elena S. (Lady Gaga), Zhang Zhongyu (Terry), Li Lijun, Ma Jiawen (co-workers), Jin Zijun (philanthropist), Yu Rongrong (girl at bar).
Release: Hong Kong, 21 Oct 2010.
(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 15 Feb 2011.)