Whatever You Want
Don’t worry too much about the fact that this
film has both Michael Wong and Christy Chung in it - equally famous for
their lack of acting talent and their ability to butcher the Chinese language.
That’s because Anita Yuen owns this Wong Jing film. Nearly every frame
of the film resonates with her presence. Now if you don’t like Anita -
this film is definitely not for you. I do like her though, especially when
she plays one of her slightly off-kilter sprite like characters. Here her
face is like on rushing traffic - constantly changing expression from cute
to crazed to wacky to sexy to . . . you name it - all in a blink of the
eye. It’s a face I quite enjoy watching.
The film itself is fairly standard and it is primarily
the charming performance of Anita and a few very funny film parodies that
push this from almost mediocre into something nearly delicious. Towards
the end of the film, Wong Jing loses his focus and nearly ruins the fairy
tale quality of the film - but the last scenes redeem it.
Anita’s character is a dizzy, but lovable soul
- unable to hold a job down - constantly daydreaming - staying up all night
watching movies (sounds good to me) until her father sets her up in the
advertising company of her half sister - Christy Chung. I should explain
that her father has eight wives (I’m tired just thinking about that) and
Anita has never met her half sister. Christy is everything Anita is not
- driven, confident and successful. Jordan Chan is Anita’s direct boss
and the two of them develop a likable chemistry on screen.
To make this short - eventually into Anita’s possession
comes three pearls that turn out to have a genie residing in them - Michael
Wong - and he grants Anita three wishes. If it was me - Maggie, Chingmy
and Nina Li might figure into my three wishes - but that would be another
story !
Instead, Anita wants to use one wish to help
her sister. Christy has confided that her ideal man is a “disposable one”
- she wants a handsome man who will vanish after impregnating her. No muss,
no fuss. A Michael Wong genie sort of fits that description. Complications
ensue.
As I mentioned earlier there are a few movie parodies
- Speed, Chungking Express and Ashes of Time - were three that I recognized.
The one of Ashes is a classic - very funny and on target - even to a big
fan of the movie like me. Picture Leslie Cheung giving one of his
heartfelt monologues about moving to the desert to a cow.
Though the film lags a bit near the end, there
is a lot here to enjoy in a fairly mindless fun way. For a Wong Jing film
it is quite sedate for the most part - with a few obligatory tasteless
moments - but an easy confection to munch on.
