Cast Member: Chapman To

If nothing else, this film goes to show how a lack of good material can sometimes be covered over by an excellent cast.

If only Vincent Kok had nurtured the early comedy of ‘My Lucky Star’ and allowed the two stars to develop their love, this could have been above the norm.

‘Simply Actors’ represents a modest enough cinematic diversion, even superficially entertaining in passages, for modern Hong Kong cinema aficionados.

When the closing credits rolled, I opined that I had lost a full ninety minutes that would’ve been better used watching one of these sub-genres more accomplished works.

Unfortunately for the prospective viewer, the film never reaches beyond the interest of the synopsis and ends a somewhat dull piece entertainment.

As a meditation on father/daughter relationships, ‘The Empty Hands’ is lazy and thinks that a slickly delivered camera shot is a good replacement for basic storytelling.

The laughs can be a bit too parochial for inexperienced viewers while the sudden mood change from touching romance to typically surreal canto-humour may be too jarring for some.

Fairly tame fun that will easily appease the ADD generation who are hooked on special effects. Go into it with that frame of mind and it’s likely that you’ll find an adequate time filler.

I did notice my skin peeling off as the film neared its conclusion, though on closer inspection this seems to have been what doctors call ‘The Chapman To effect’.

Despite what flaws ‘The Twins Effect’ has, it never actually suffers as a result of them as it always retains the viewers interest and successfully juggles comedy, action and horror.

‘Wait ‘Til You’re Older’ is commercial film-making at its most polished, yet contains a few brave decisions by director Teddy Chen.