My Sassy Hubby

我老婆唔够秤2  我老公唔生性

Hong Kong, 2012, colour, 2.35:1, 106 mins.

Director: Ruan Shisheng 阮世生 [James Yuen].

Rating: 6/10.

Zheng Yijian [Ekin Cheng] and Cai Zhuoyan [Charlene Choi] reunite for a nostalgic retread of My Wife Is 18.

STORY

Hong Kong, the present day, 88 days earlier. Ten years into their marriage, psychology professor Zhang Shisan (Zheng Yijian), now approaching his 40th birthday, and his 28-year-old wife Ma Shuling (Cai Zhuoyan), who co-owns a boutique with her friend Annie (Ni Chenxi), still have a loving but volatile relationship. Zhang Shisan lectures his students on the subject of women while admitting he doesn’t really understand them, and Ma Shuling knows she can always get something (usually money) from him with her little-girl ways. One day a Mainland student, Dong Yi (Zhang Xinyi), makes an impression on him in class with her mature observations. Meanwhile, Ma Shuling bumps into an old childhood friend, Lin Shuhao (Xu Zhengxi), son of a bra and property tycoon, who has returned from the UK after 20 years. At a party for the 50th wedding anniversary of her great-uncle (Lu Haipeng) and his wife (Shao Yinyin), Ma Shuling creates an embarrassing scene. Afterwards, arguing at home, Zhang Shisan tells her he’s received a letter from the London church in which they were married saying that the wedding was not legal as the priest was not authorised to conduct it. When Ma Shuling suggests simply re-registering, Zhang Shisan equivocates. In protest, Ma Shuling moves next door while their neighbours (Wang Zulan, Jia Xiaochen) are on holiday; there she is visited by the sympathetic Lin Shuhao. At the same time, Zhang Shisan becomes friendly with Dong Yi, who turns out to be a well-known professional model.

REVIEW

Ten years after his rom-com My Wife Is 18 我老婆唔够秤 (2002), writer-director Ruan Shisheng 阮世生 [James Yuen] reunites his original leads, Zheng Yijian 郑伊健 [Ekin Cheng] and Twins singer Cai Zhuoyan 蔡卓妍 [Charlene Choi], for another spin round the block, looking at their characters’ marriage of convenience a decade on. More focused than the original, but less fresh and spontaneous in feel, it’s an enjoyable enough time-waster that’s entirely sustained by the rich raft of character actors rather than anything special in the script. Ruan, who began as a writer, has done much more original work than this in the past (Your Place or Mine! 每天爱您8小时, 1998; Clean My Name, Mr. Coroner! 救姜刑警, 2000; Crazy n’ the City 神经侠侣, 2005), but even on autopilot he can generally be relied on to hit minimum standards. Shot with no special gloss, and recalling very local Hong Kong rom-coms of the 1990s, My Sassy Hubby 我老婆唔够秤2  我老公唔生性 is a simple trip down memory lane and none the worse for it.

The most surprising thing about the movie is its reminder that the eternally gamine Cai has now been in the business for a decade. Now 30, she’s gradually ripened – against all expectations – into an interesting actress, though here she’s pretty much circumscribed by having to resurrect a terminally annoying girl-bride character who hasn’t changed much in the interim. Some quieter later scenes show the maturer actress, though it’s the ever-reliable Zheng whose ingenuous playing keeps the film grounded as the tolerant spouse. In a sign of the times, the plot features a Mainland character – here elegantly played by TV actress Zhang Xinyi 张歆艺, 31, who brings a touch of class as a professional model who attracts the eye of Cheng’s character. Zheng Xinyi 郑欣宜, daughter of the late Shen Dianxia 沈殿霞 [Lydia Shum], holds up the Canto-comedy side as a podgy cousin, plus Wang Zulan 王祖蓝 and Jia Xiaochen 贾晓晨 as a couple of comically weird neighbours.

With its manufactured plot – the couple suddenly find their UK wedding was invalid, so have to prove their love all over again – My Sassy Hubby still feels 10 minutes or so too long, and even throws in a brief finale in Cairns, Australia, for no good reason other than boasting a foreign location. The English title sounds neat but pretty much means the opposite of the Cantonese original. [For the Mainland the film’s Chinese title was changed to the standard Mandarin 我老公不靠谱.]

CREDITS

Presented by Universe Entertainment (HK). Produced by Local Production (HK).

Script: Ruan Shisheng [James Yuen], Luo Yaohui [Andy Lo], Wu Mengzhang. Photography: Jiang Guomin [Venus Keung]. Editing: Liang Guorong [Jacky Leung]. Music: Luo Jian [Lincoln Lo]. Theme song: Guo Weiliang [Eric Kwok]. Vocal: Cai Zhuoyan [Charlene Choi]. Art direction: Feng Jihui. Costume design: Cai Yanwen. Sound: Liang Zhida. Visual effects: Digital Magic.

Cast: Zheng Yijian [Ekin Cheng] (Zhang Shisan/Thirteen), Cai Zhuoyan [Charlene Choi] (Ma Shuling/Yoyo), Zhang Xinyi (Dong Yi/Maggie), Xu Zhengxi (Lin Shuhao/Francis/Sweet Potato), Zheng Xinyi (Nana, Ma Shuling’s cousin), Wang Zulan (Li, neighbour), Jia Xiaochen (Li’s wife), Lu Haipeng (Sixth Great-Uncle), Shao Yinyin [Susan Shaw] (Sixth Great-Uncle’s wife), Lin Shanshan (nun school head), Zhao Shuozhi [Wylie Chiu] (diving instructor), Zhu Xun (Zhou), Dai Mengmeng (Mrs. Tan), Zhang Jicong (Louis, photographer), Zhang Xuerun (Dong Yi’s manager), Guan Chuyao (petrol man), Zeng Guoxiang [Derek Tsang] (mugger), Ni Chenxi (Annie, Ma Shuling’s business partner), Xu Jiaqi (Kitty, Lin Shuhao’s Shanghainese fiancee), Lin Wanxia (Third Uncle’s fiancee), Ruan Shisheng [James Yuen] (doctor).

Release: Hong Kong, 6 Dec 2012.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 8 Apr 2013.)