Mr. Wai-Go
Director:  Aman Chang
Year: 1998
Rating: 7.5
Wai-go, Wai-go, Wai-go – get your Wai-go here. Everybody do the Wai-go. Let’s Wai-go morning, noon and night. Wai-go to the left, Wai-go to the right. Everybody Wai-go. Sorry - just like the sound of that! In fact, Mr. Wai-go is a substitute for Mr. Viagra which was intended to be the original title of this film, but it appears that a certain company was not too thrilled with that and threatened a law suit. So the name was changed – but thankfully not the movie. I don’t know why the company was worried because this film is a great advertisement for their product!

This low budget film directed by Aman Chang is a hilariously tacky and totally tasteless take on male sexual dysfunction in these modern day stressful times. Not surprisingly, Wong Jing and Bad Boys Production was behind this effort. Considering the completely crass nature of the content, an absolutely excellent cast of Eric Tsang, Anthony Wong, Spencer Lam, Helen Law Lan, Yuen King, Angie Cheung and Pinky Cheung was put together and they are seemingly having the time of their lives. Watching a truly fine actor like Anthony Wong fruitlessly try to achieve an erection and also play the role of his own penis from time to time is something that could only happen in HK. In so many of his recent middling dramas, Wong has looked nearly asleep, but here he is quite brilliant in an amusing understated way.


This film of course may not be for everyone. For example, scenes such as these may easily offend many people. Anthony Wong is lying on the floor being “pleased” by his wife Yuen King (Wing Chun) when his blind mother (Helen Law Lan) comes out looking for him, but he continues pressuring his wife to finish the deed at hand. He finally tells both his mother and wife “I am coming, I am coming” and his wife then responds to her mother-in-law in a gargled manner – breaking that standing rule not to talk with your mouth full! And talking of having your mouth full – Anthony who portrays an aging porno actor asks his co-star to see if she can get him aroused to which she cheerfully complies after taking a huge bite of a very messy looking sandwich. Comedy ain’t always pretty.
 

On top of this, a page is stolen from Woody Allen when the camera checks in with the sperms occasionally to see how they are reacting. Most of them are far from pleased – they are old, tired and have had far too little exercise recently as they spend much of their time playing Mahjong and when they are finally called upon one complains “for all our effort, we only end up on paper tissue!”

There is a story here and believe it or not it is actually somewhat sweet and endearing. It tracks three men and their sexual problems.


Eric Tsang and his cronies live in a small village where life is dull and routine until Bobo (Angie Cheung) and her husband move to town. Their loud, nightly love making sessions give them all something to do and the men of the town begin parking themselves outside of their window and listening. Soon vendors are selling food and drinks to the large crowd. Tsang has his first erection in years (to which a choir breaks out in Hallelujah), but when the husband dies in an accident the music dies so to speak and the town has to go back to watching TV. Eric though begins making obscene phone calls to Angie expressing his fantasies about school uniforms and spanking.
 

As mentioned before Wong is a porn star facing a career crisis – he seems to only be able to get an erection for his wife when she is housecleaning. A Japanese female sex superstar is coming to perform with him and he starts searching frantically for a Viagra so that he can uphold the reputation of China. The resolution of this is extremely amusing and touching in a truly perverse way.
 


Then finally there is Spencer Lam (the priest in the Y&D series) who is Anthony’s father and receives a bottle of Viagra for his birthday from his old crony friends. He tries to snuggle up to Helena Law Lan, but she will have nothing to do with him - but he soon finds himself the object of desire of Pinky Cheung. His Viagra starts whipping his sperm to shape up and work harder.
 

It is all completely insane, gratuitous (there is some nudity), frivolous and manages to poke fun at many subjects. Director Chang does a splendid job of keeping the gags and gagging coming and uses the camera in a way that is inventive and very clever.