Happy Go Lucky

                                       
Director: Heaven Yiu Tin-tong
Year: 2003
Rating: 4.0
I feel like I am such a bad person for not liking this film all that much. I should be horsewhipped. Or be sent to re-education class. It is like I ran over a cat and kept going. The film has such good intentions and does its best to reach into your heart and touch it with sentiment and universal understanding. Mainly though, I found it treacly and annoying. And that is on me and what a terrible person I am. Hell, it is directed by someone with the first name of Heaven as in Heaven Yiu Tin-tong. Straight from heaven. And it was still a chore for me to get through.  A very positive message about the worth of every individual and the need to be caring. And I apparently suck at it. And it stars my favorite member of the Twins, Gillian Chung - as a blind person - and I still wasn't moved. All that passed through my brain was that she was so damn cute. When this was made, the Twins were the biggest thing since the invention of ice cream. She and Charlene made a number of films together but in this one Gillian goes it alone. Like with Cecilia Cheung, it all fell apart with the same scandal. Actually, Edison Chen should be the one to be horsewhipped. And then dismembered. Where were the Triads when they were needed.



Fat Cat (Kent Cheng) is mentally undeveloped and socially inept but oddly knowledgeable about certain things. He literally never stops talking and moving his arms around like a windmill. He works in an office as a go-fer. The same company then hires Little Cheung (Wayne Lai) to do errands around the office. He has some nerve disease and walks in spasmic motions and talks with difficulty. But is a smart guy. One day Fat Cat imitates his walk because he thinks it is cool. Little Cheung takes offense and screams at him. But then Fat Cat helps him out and they become good buddies with Fat Cat cooking for him and Little Cheung's grandfather (Yu Chi-ming.)



The third member of this disabled group joins the film when Fat Cat accidentally knocks the phone out of her hand and then realizes that she is blind. Snowie (Gillian) is the most cheerful person on this side of the sun. She lives with her parents but is fairly independent and as a hobby sings Chinese Opera with her mother. Fat Cat is never one to leave anything alone and talks her to death and they become friends - and then Little Cheung as well. Yikes. I should be tearing up at this point but my hard heart just didn't much care. Next time get real disabled people to play the roles.



Not that they do a bad job - both Kent and Wayne give it everything they have. And Gillian is just cute. There is some drama - I thought for sure there would be a City Lights moment when she has an operation and can see again - but not in this sweet film. That would have just been cruel. Snowie gets depressed about something and our two heroes give her a long speech about people have it worse than you do. Which is partly the message of the film. We all have it tough at times but others have it worse and we need to show everyone respect and caring. Isn't that sweet.