Last year, Hong Kong produced the brutal and unforgiving film Limbo, a black and white noir set in a garbage ghetto with a mystery about a severed hand. It pulled no punches … well, how could it with a severed hand? It took no prisoners. It was my favorite film of 2021. So imagine my surprise when I see a film from Hong Kong this year that makes “Friends” look like The Silence of the Lambs.
Seriously. I mean, I know Hong Kong is a big, diverse place, but this is like finding out a studio that produced Se7en followed it up with “Leave It to Beaver.” Welcome to the tame world of Table for Six.
Table for Six is about three brothers, their loft recently inherited from deceased parents, and their love lives. It’s a bit compelling. It’s a bit sweet. It’s not a single second of hard-hitting. Steve (Chi-Wah Wong) is the eldest. His life is the furthest from controlled, and his brothers Bernard and Lung (Louis Cheung and Charm Man Chan) razz him for it. And why not? Steve’s current girlfriend is a web influencer named Meow (Min Chen Lin). Meow likes to sexypose with appliances like rice cookers. What’s not to love?
Meanwhile, Steve is not over his ex, Monica (Stephy Tang), who is Bernard’s current girlfriend. Monica isn’t over Steve, either. So, you know, trouble there. Also, Lung has a foodie girlfriend, Josephine (Ivana Wong) so that the film can make this all one big dinner party.
Their living space looks like a small office; I’m not sure how anybody, let alone three bro
thers and their significant others expect to live there … but I’m sure the place made for nice shooting. Suffice to say, when there are multiple conversations about an e-sports team, I’m not sure the characters or the movie itself is quite ready for grown-up land. Perhaps that’s what we will discover as these two hours unfold.
I didn’t think Table for Six was bad, necessarily, but it is so lightweight it made me wonder why anybody bothered releasing it in this format. Were televisions not enough? I’m super curious to know what standard shows come on Hong Kong TV, because I can’t imagine much puffier entertainment. This film seems like an entry into a standard playground bully’s contest of “Who can hit the lightest?” Congrats, Table for Six. You win.
Editor’s Note: Table for Six was knocked silly in Round Two by a Farrelly Brothers project.
Three brothers who argued on and oft
Inherited their own parents’ loft
Now all in the air
With each an affair
Be assured the conclusions will be soft
Not Rated, 117 Minutes
Director: Sunny Chan
Writer: Sunny Chan
Genre: Pulling punches
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Hong Kong film junkies
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who have experienced Western media
