My Funny Intern
Reviewed by YTSL
A significant proportion of overseas Hong Kong
film fans are aware that Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia originally hails from Taiwan.
However, not that many seem to have viewed any of the Taiwanese movies --
especially those made prior to 1980 -- in which this East Asian cinematic
legend appeared (and usually was accorded the lead female role). To
some extent, this is understandable, on account of (English subtitled) home
video versions of quite a few of these being difficult, maybe impossible,
to find and most -- if not all -- of them feeling plus looking very dated.
At the same time, the prospect of their often being chockfull of appealing,
fascinating and at times downright swoon-inducing views of the then immensely
cute as well as youthful actress who figures in them can seem like ample compensation
for the trials undergone by those dedicated BLCH fans who track down and
check out these, if truth be told, frequently alternately or simultaneously
insipid and silly works.
Something that is a sort of bonus feature -- and possible source of empathetic
amusement -- in such as MY FUNNY INTERN is that many of the characters in
them appear to be as struck and besotted by the beauty of Brigitte Lin as
many of her real life admirers. As an example, in the opening shots
of this 1976 offering, the “houseman” medico that the then twenty-two year
old essays (whose name is Dr. Fang Jie Liar -- with the last bit being pronounced
as Lee-ahr rather than like a teller of lies) is amusingly shown leaving
a trail of obviously visually impressed, gawping and momentarily physically
stunned male patients and other men in her wake as she seemingly obliviously
makes her way to her office. Additionally, a little later in the movie,
the good doctor is seen having to deal with a long line of men who are entirely
willing to fake being ill in order to have a short face-to-face encounter
with a consciously curt and deliberately pain-inducing -- by way of a 500
or even 5000 cc. injection prescribing! -- yet undeniably pretty her.
In light of the extra bother that Dr. Fang has to endure compared to other
physicians (or just because she’s played by Brigitte!), perhaps she could
be excused for taking risks that may result in misdiagnosis and medical malpractice.
Still, the particularly lovely nosed as well as thick eye browed individual
might count herself fortunate that when one instance of the former occurred,
she did realize that she had made an error before she completely dismissed
the patient, and also that temporarily flu-stricken he happened to come in
the form of MY FUNNY INTERN’s main man: a football (soccer to Americans...)
player cum coach named Lu Yi Min (played by Ms. Lin’s six time co-star, the
first-billed -- for this film -- Alan Tang) who is hardly about to buck the
trend of finding her to be very attractive and thinking that she definitely
would be worth romantically pursuing.
Indeed, so serious is Yi Min in his efforts to woo the single woman -- who
lives with her three hours younger twin brother (Fang Sin is portrayed by
Raymond Liu) -- that he personally resorts to reading and following a host
of creative suggestions tendered in a newspaper’s regular romantic advice
column (written by someone identified in print as Ding Ping but whom he actually
knows -- though he doesn’t find this out for a time -- by another moniker).
Sensing that the formerly playboyish individual really may have come across
his one true love in the sweet-faced -- even when solemn or darkly somber
-- Dr. Fang, some of his female as well as male pals set about trying to
help him win her over. As luck would have it though, not only does
one of their frankly ridiculous schemes majorly backfire -- and incur her
disapproval and ire -- but an unrelated plan involving another female friend
of Yi Min’s getting him to pretend to be her fiancé (so that she can
fend off a suitor that she is not attracted to) goes awry when Dr. Fang mistakes
fiction for reality.
Just as Yi Min managed to get his mother to smooth over one problematic incident
however, another older female -- in this case, yet one more of his platonic
friends, whose work as the manager of a modeling agency meant that she also
coincidentally was -- at least for a while, anyways -- the boss of Fang Sin’s
girlfriend -- ended up having an influential role in ensuring that MY FUNNY
INTERN would have the happy ending that surely was sought by the great bulk
of its audience. For my part, while I am not unopposed to the movie
having the upbeat conclusion that it does, I have to admit to wishing that
there actually had been more opportunities for its leading lady (who appeared
in a total of twelve productions in 1976, by the way) to demonstrate her
considerable acting ability and range than there were in this undemanding
offering that turned out to be insufficiently filled with both laugh out
loud comedy and high melodrama.
My rating for the film: 5.5