If U Care... (2002, dir. Adrian Kwan)

[Toge]

If U Care... (2002)

AKA Chin Cheng Sin Sang (Original Cantonese Title)
Directed by: Adrian Kwan
Written by: Adrian Kwan & Peter Tsi
Producer: Benny Chan
Starring: Eason Chan, Gillian Chung, Candy Lo, Eric Kok & Rain Li
DVD Distributed by Universe

THE SYNOPSIS:

Fai (Eason Chan from Visible Secret) is an extremely selfish guy, who is always trying to court girls, always making fun of people, and always embezzling people's ideas for a product that he needs to keep his job. After a party, he crashes into a lamp post and injures himself. He gets saved by childhood friend Gil (Gillian Chung from Just One Look). As Fai is recovering at the hospital, his right hand gets patched up with some kind of object that keeps his hand still. After this, unexplainable things start to happen...

THE FILM:

I feel Adrian Kwan's film is flawed. While it was funny, it didn't approach the level of comedy seen in La Brassiere for example. It's a bit more crazy and psychotic funny as opposed to the one liners and slapstick kind of humour. You may like that sort of thing, but I don't. It's even more psychotic than the Stephen Chow films and you know how stupid they are (not a bad thing by the way). Directing wise, not a bad effort from Adrian Kwan. He's very straightforward in his approach and for this movie, you need no fancy camera panning or visuals.



This is the first time I've seen Eason Chan act and he displays good effort but he lacks any sort of persona, something you must have in the atmosphere that is with you. Lau Ching Wan for example has a sort of rugged persona, but Chan doesn't have his. Other than that, Chan does do a great job as this selfish little mummy's boy. He doesn't have those little comedic touches like, again, Lau Ching Wan in La Brassiere, (the "So Good" body language and hand movement is an example) but still a fairly good and funny performance.

Gillian Chung is a first timer for me too and what a looker she is (cue the wolf whistle)! She's not half bad in her acting but I have a feeling that she was not used to her full extent in this film. She does have maybe one or two comedic scenes and one dramatic one but her character is a little stereotypical. That means she's kind of like the female character that the male one must save. Still, she's funny and cute, that's all you'll expect of her really.

If U Care... is worth buying if you liked My Left Eye Sees Ghosts or the dark type of comedy. If not then you can skip this one.

THE DVD:

Universe has has included a 1.75:1 non-Anamorphic transfer. The picture is a little dark but it does suit the mood of the film. A few noticeable bits of grain was seen but not much else is flawed about the transfer

Audio includes a Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 plus a mandarin 2.0 dub. I listened to the Cantonese one and it sounds clear, no crackling and everything is in tip top condition. Acceptable English subtitles are also included for non-Cantonese speaking people. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are selectable.

Extras include Star's Files on Eason Chan and Gillian Chung , a trailer for If U Care and a A making of featurette (5 minutes). It has interviews with the stars, the director an an explanation of the storyline.

Reviewed by Cecil Chan / Edited by Kenneth Brorsson