Uh oh, she’s already married. Well don’t that screw the pooch? Honestly, since this is China, maybe that’s a comparatively kinder way to treat Fido. What’s that? It’s illegal to eat dogs in Hong Kong? Well, it’s fairly clear I shouldn’t have pursued this line of thought anyway.
Fong (Stephy Tang) and Edward (Chu Pak-hong) are in the bridal biz. She works a gown rental shop; he’s a wedding photographer. They’ve been together for eight years. And here’s the punchline: they’re not married. In fact, they don’t seem close. The honeymoon part of the relationship has long since ended. They’re currently at the stage where toenails are clipped in bed during the late show.
Prince Edward is anything but a prince. The title deliberately mocks him, which is both kind of funny and kind of sad. It’s not that Edward is bad; it’s more that he’s blah. And he comes with a mom … a mom who dictates a bunch of things about his life, about their lives, like –for instance- where
they live. Whaddaya say? Move to a place with more than 300 sq. ft. of space? Nah, mom already bought this place for Edward and Fong. What a lucky couple!
Well, check this out. Fong’s “plans” of maybe marrying Prince Mumbleclippings hit a snag when her sham marriage returns. Turns out the fella she sham married never got a sham divorce and sho she’ll shave to sham-it-up again. This guy (Jin Kai-jie) is a roadmap to disaster, hence immediately becomes the most intriguing thing about this film.
I’m thinking this material could have been presented a bit better. My Prince Edward spends an awful lot of time with Edward, who is –to be kind- a dud. It takes fewer than five minutes to realize 1) Fong no longer loves him 2) wants a way out 3) has no reasonable options. This is what being stuck looks like. The film asks, “What’s the contract of marriage worth? How is it different from living together?” when it should have spent more time dealing with the consequences of cut-and-run. While Fong’s choices and reactions are entirely reasonable, they are also frustrating from the audience POV. I think there was a good movie here where Fong says, “f** the shackles; I’m gonna roll the dice,” but this wasn’t that film.
The choices aren’t clear for lady Fong
It seems every road leads one to “wrong”
The current century
Has Xbox and Wii
Why would anyone settle for Pong?
Not Rated, 93 Minutes
Director: Norris Wong
Writer: Norris Wong
Genre: Messy triangle
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The overly empathetic
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Cynics
