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Review
by Kozo: |
Feel close to 67% with The Unusual Youth,
an offbeat youth "dramedy" from Dennis Law,
a former property developer who finally made his own
film. In achieving his dream and putting his thoughts
and existential musings on film, Law immediately becomes
a person we should all congratulate. To Law's credit,
the film itself isn't terrible either, though it's
woefully uneven and really not very good. The film
is also somewhat unpredictable, which does earn it
some points. We're in a forgiving mood today.
Overacting Marco
Lok stars as Big Chick, a supposedly scummy youth
who quarrels incessantly with his harridan-like granny
(Law Lan, turning in one of her less agreeable performances).
Basically, he's a total layabout who's also supposed
to be a good kid. His parents (Sammy and Siu-Yee,
playing above their age) think he's all right, but
Granny has it in for the kid big time. Meanwhile,
his brother Small Chick (Yeung Ka-Shing) is a too-nice
kid who gets bullied at school, and is clearly Granny's
favorite. As proof that Big Chick is really not as
nice as he may seem, he steals his brother's cell
phone and throws it into the water in an unconvincing
display of hooliganism. Clearly, this is a youth film
with some serious issues.
Big Chick's friends
also have issues. Triad offspring Suki (Race Wong)
really wants to be a good girl despite her sordid
roots and skanky fashion sense. Her pal May May (Yan
Ng) has an ex-boyfriend (Johnny Lu) who still isn't
over her. Meanwhile, slightly meterosexual pal Biggie
(Raymond Wong) wants to be a model, and other pal
Dragon (Cecilia Cheung's brother Ronnie Cheung) hangs
around mouthing off. The lessons and issues here are
fairly common: be true to yourself, have faith in
your friends, and get used to things changing, because
dammit all, they will! Dennis Law doesn't get many
points for his more common "Feel 100%" musings,
but he should get credit for positing some complexity.
Happy endings and smooth sailing are not a given in
these kids' lives, which does make The Unusual
Youth seem a tad different. At the very least,
this isn't a saccharine time at the movies.
On the other hand, not
much makes sense here either. Lead character Big Chick
is not very consistent and/or likable, and his friends
get shafted in the character development area. Of
all the pals, only Race Wong's Suki seems to get much
focus, and even then her issues are all common ones.
She eventually considers a lesbian dalliance with
May May, which seems to be a major conceit of the
film's print advertising. The Unusual Youth's
marketing features shots of Yan Ng and Race Wong about
to touch lips, which should get some post-pubescent
males' blood boiling. For better or worse, however,
the majority of that relationship is thrown into a
bizarre coda which basically plays like a fast-motion
"the next six months" trailer. The inclusion
of the footage feels like Film School 101, i.e. it's
supposed to be hip, telling and irreverent, like The
Real World with popstars. The problem: it's not
very hip, nor telling, nor irreverent. It just uneven,
and even weird. When the characters didn't grow on
you in a 90-minute film, it's hard to be excited about
seeing their futures played out in 3 minutes of unconnected
jump cuts.
Ultimately, the best
thing about The Unusual Youth is it manages
some minor moments without ultra-cloying clinches
or long, drawn-out speeches (though the abundance
of voice-over by Marco Lok is incredibly annoying).
At times, Law's plot seems to ask the viewer to fill
in the blanks, an exercise that could reveal far more
than what appears to be happening. Or, it could simply
reveal that the world of The Unusual Youth
simply reflects reality by being disconnected and
unexplained. Or, it could simply mean that this is
one messy screenplay that makes next to no sense.
You can decide for yourself what it all means, but
the recommendation about whether or not to see this
film is a resounding, "It's up to you."
Nothing about the film makes it truly worth recommending
to casual filmgoers - except perhaps for the Cheung
Chau locations. After seeing the characters wander
the streets of the rural island community, you may
want to add Cheung Chau to your list of planned tourist
stops. I know I do. So...thank you, The Unusual
Youth. (Kozo, 2005)
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