The Loser's Club
Reviewed by YTSL
Even after discounting those that owe their
ridiculousness to hex errors (E.g., “Flirtong Scholar”…!), there are myriad
examples of Hong Kong movies which have been saddled with titles that are
more likely to put off rather than attract viewers. Admittedly, such
sensationalist ones as “Rape Trap”, “Gigolo and Whore”, “Love to Kill”
and “Women’s Private Parts” -- all of which I’ve seen and reviewed for
this site, actually! -- might intrigue certain folks even while scaring
away more mainstream inclined others. Alternatively, how many people
would naturally gravitate towards checking out such presumably guaranteed
downers as the criminally under-rated “Girls without Tomorrow” and this
late 2001 offering from a director whose prior efforts had included two
(i.e.,“The Longest Nite” and “Expect the Unexpected”) of the darkest and
bleakest of Milkyway Image’s crime dramas?!
THE LOSER’S CLUB possesses a principal cast who
are not without overseas admirers but whose lack of Idol type physical
attributes -- and consequent apparent under-appreciation in their home
territory -- appear to have led to their being relegated to starring in
low budget works like this Patrick Yau helmed TV program themed offering
with an unbecoming “made for the small screen” aura to it. To the
more multi-talented than a chunky he may superficially seem Eric Tsang
went the role of Nam: an international award winning director in search
of a 20 (plus) point -- For the record: 1 point = 500,000 viewers -- rating
for the midnight scheduled TV program he had been reduced to working on.
Meanwhile, the beady eyed plus at times very outrageous acting Francis
Ng -- who excels at essaying menacingly crazed but also not so scarily
eccentric characters -- was called to play an entertainingly flamboyant,
“nutty but cute” singer named Kenny (who, prior to his entering into an
inspired collaboration with Nam, was apt to be dismissed by others as an
idiotic “has been”).
Although the latterly infamously “love handles”-possessing
Ruby Wong’s part in THE LOSER’S CLUB is not as substantial as Eric Tsang’s
or eye-catching as that of Francis Ng, it is one that provides her with
welcomed opportunities to flash her absolutely wonderful smile as well
as show the attractively feisty plus supportive side of her character (a
woman named Hidy who is the official Girl Friday for Maggie Siu’s TV station
manager character plus the informal but valued help-mate of Nam and Kenny).
Based on her supporting performance as the formidable -- but not entirely
hard-hearted -- Cheung Mei Yiu, it seems a shame that the expressive faced
Ms. Siu -- who had also graced director Yau’s “The Longest Nite” -- currently
is best known to many Hong Kong movie fans for her being a TV actress plus
having been dumped by Ekin Cheng for Gigi Leung. Alternatively, Michael
Tse did not do enough with his admittedly minor accorded role -- as a young
but already pretty ego-centric station rival of Eric Tsang’s Nam -- in
this flamenco music infused (courtesy of co-composers Chung Chi Wing and
Ben Cheng) work to make a strong case for his being able to stand out of
a non-pretty boy as well as “Young and Dangerous” crowd.
Someone else who doesn’t emerge all that well
from THE LOSER’S CLUB is scriptwriter Sandy Shaw (whose previous penned
credits include those for “The Heroic Trio”, “My Father is a Hero” and
the Francis Ng directed and starring “9413”). In theory, the actually
Category I rated movie’s main tale of Nam’s efforts to orchestrate a successful
comeback for the affectionately labeled Kenny Chai (a term that effectively
translates into English as “Boy” or “Kid”) -- and also boost his own career
in the bargain by doing such as getting both of them involved in the production
of a HK$20 million (i.e., big by the stipulated standards) budget New Year’s
Eve show -- is one that’s potentially interesting. This is particularly
so with the throwing into its primarily dramatic equation of the kind of
ethical and humanistic issues, along with personal plus professional relational
concerns, that various individuals who have demanding jobs and/or regularly
appear in the media limelight can be realistically expected to have had
to consider at some point in their psychically as well as psychologically
and sometimes also physically demanding careers.
Disappointingly however, I found THE LOSER’S CLUB
to often be both confusingly disjointed and yawn-inducingly boring.
To be sure, that which (also) had Helen Tong playing a supporting character
named Sam and Chung Wong as a senior producer known as K. K. was not without
a few good moments and points. However, there often was quite a bit
of lag time between the livelier, more inspired plus even sometimes surprisingly
moving bits of a cinematic work that had Eric Tsang’s Nam character earnestly
asserting at one point that “I just want to do a good show”. All
in all, and especially in light of another of the veteran industry insider’s
suggestions being that “the entertainment industry…[is] all about gimmicks”,
this (re)viewer couldn’t help thinking that this perhaps too well meaning
effort would have benefited from having the irreverent -- but frequently
attention-grabbing, for good reason -- input of more savvy plus populist
inclined movie makers like Wong Jing.
My rating for the film: 5.5