Why Wild Girls
Actually, why not wilder is the question? Though
I found this film to be very charming and quite pleasing to the eye (from
a male perspective admittedly) – it does feel as if the film falls short
of its promise to be a story about wild girls in the city. Though the three
girls certainly know how to have a good time and are definitely not averse
to hopping into bed with someone on occasion, these are not tales of debauchery
and libidinous activities. At heart these are sweet girls looking for a
little bit of romance and some fun along the way.
The real pleasure of this film – and it really
does fall into the “guilty pleasure” category - is watching the interaction
and expressions of these three high spirited and totally adorable girls.
All three live together in an apartment, have been friends for years and
are trying to make a living as best as they can. Loletta Lee is applying
for jobs as a secretary, but has zero skills, Ellen Chan is a film actress
only able to get roles as a non-speaking prostitute and Ivy Leung does
dubbing for the sex scenes in Category III films.
There really isn’t very much that happens in this
film – it’s almost just a slice of life shot of these girls and some of
the men they get involved with. The main focus much to my horror is the
romance between Loletta and Ekin Cheng. I didn’t know Ekin was going to
be in this film and on first sighting I wasn’t sure that was him – long
wavy hair and all – but if it looks and acts like wood – it must be Ekin.
Unfortunately, Ekin bares more skin than the girls do – with the exception
of a few fleeting shots.
The story is kind of cute though as Loletta sees
him one day and becomes determined to land him even if he does have a serious
girlfriend. So she sets up surveillance on him and bugs his apartment –
and figures out what he likes and doesn’t like and acts accordingly – it’s
like shooting fish in a barrel – though Loletta taking her clothes off
and getting into the shower would have worked for me!
Of course there are a few lessons learned – and
a few hearts broken – but in the end nothing much changes. The ending in
fact is very odd – it’s almost as if the director ran out of film at the
80-minute mark and I was completely surprised when the credits began running.
Stick around for the end credits though because the girls and guys put
on a nice little splashy dance number.
My rating for this film: 7.0
DVD Information:
Distributor - Ocean Shores
Somehow I didn't notice that the distributor
was Ocean Shores who I have been warned to stay away from. For good reason
as I quickly learned - no menu, no additions and a great deal of speckling.
The speckling does improve as the film goes on - but it still is amazing
that they could not locate a better print. Otherwise, the colors are fine
and the film is certainly watchable - especially with these three actresses!
Letterbox - but just barely so.
Subs - burnt on English and Chinese.