Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 02/23/2003 Extremely stupid Stephen Chow movie that has less humor than you'd expect from the king of comedy. Add "ultra boring" to the shortcoming list as well. [5/10]

Reviewed by: shuqifan Date: 01/26/2003 Summary: Funny, Simple Movie I found this movie very humourous. It was well paced, and I liked the complicated plot twists. Sure it's pretty well your traditional light-hearted formula movie, but the comedy keeps it refreshing. I also liked the non-Chinese movie "Rat Race" too. That "Shorty" Clan Master was hilarious! He did an incredible impression of Bruce Lee. Loved it. 8/10 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: fancynancy Date: 07/05/2002 Summary: oh, the hilarity this is such a typical stephan chow movie: funny, crazy, hilarious, silly, amusing,and a nice little foaming at the mouth scene. :) the characters that appealed the most to me were ah nam (daniel chen) and fongfong (shu qui). could they be any cuter??? sooo sweeet. im not usually a fan of ms ex-porno-star(cos she's with MY leon) but here it really took the cake. a completely pointless movie though, but its so sweet and entertaining, who really cares? 8.5/10

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 04/18/2002 Summary: Poor Like everyone else here, I found this uninteresting, and poor by most standards. The comedy is not funny(well, I may have laughed once I think), and the romance was far too phoney. Very poor, probably only one for the Stephen Chow fans - even they will be disapointed I think. Rating: 1.5/5

Reviewed by: danton Date: 03/03/2002 Chinese New Year comedies may not be everybody's cup of tea - normally, they are messy, low-budget affairs all driven by the same formula: all-star cast comes together to play either a large family or the staff at a family restaurant (usually 3 main leads, plus wise old father figure). The harmony and bliss of traditional Chinese values (family, community) that they represent is then threatened by outside forces only to triumph in the end. All this of course is backdrop for various comedic antics that are geared towards one over-riding goal: pair off as many of the stars in romantic couples as possible. And at the end, assemble everyone for the traditional New Year's Wishes. The "All's Well, Ends Well" series exemplifies the above formula at its finest, and this 1998 offering tries very hard to follow in the footsteps of that series, with mixed results. The cast includes Ng Man-Tat as the owner of the Lucky Coffee Shop, famous in the neighborhood for its freshly baked Egg Tarts. His waiters include a number of familiar faces, most notably Stephen Chow and Eric Kot. Eric does his usual stick, which I find extremely annoying. It ruined Lawyer, Lawyer, and it's not very funny here either. If it weren't for the brilliant "You Shoot, I Shoot" I'd say the man should once and for all stay away from comedies and concentrate on directing his WKW wannabe movies... Stephen, on the other hand, does a rather subdued (for him) yet very effective take of the God of Gamblers iconography by playing the Prince of Egg Tarts, a waiter who is seemingly irresistable to women. Also on board are Daniel Chan, playing Ng Man-Tat's son, Sandra Ng as the evil landlady Flirty Si, and Shu Qi, Kristy Yeung and Sammi Cheng as the three main romantic leads. Watch the movie if you want to know who gets paired off with whom, but be warned that Shu Qi does her utmost to live up to her reputation of playing ditzy pouting girly roles. Some may call it charming, others can't bear it. So depending on which part of the great Shu Qi divide you fall on, your take on this movie may be quite different. Either way, there's no doubt that the other 2 actresses (Kristy and a rather pasty-looking Sammi) pale in comparison and remain somewhat bland and forgettable. Some plot elements were lifted from the Julia Roberts episode of friends, but that can go both ways. In fact, Stephen Fung's recent "Shadow" is built around a premise that is copied almost verbatim from the back story between Stephen Chow's and Sammi's characters in this movie... In summary, the movie is not as good overall as for example the first All's Well, Ends Well, but still provides for a pleasurable viewing experience marred only by the presence of Eric Kot. Marginal recommendation.

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 11/17/2001 Summary: I seem to like it more than everybody else, I guess! THE LUCKY GUY (1998) - A Chinese New Year's movie directed by Stephen Chiau semi-regular Lee Lik Chi. Ng Man Tat is the owner of the Lucky Coffee Shop, a local shop priding itself on its egg tarts and level of personalised customer service. The evil landlady (Sandra Ng) wants to hike the rent up to an unmeetable level, which means the shop will have to close and leave the district to the multinational chains, unless something can be done. Daniel Chan is Ng's son, who is not interested in the family business & doesn't understand the importance of community. Stephen Chiau & Eric Kot play two of the employees. The main focus of the film is the 3 little love stories between Chiau/Kot/Chan and Sammi Cheng/Kristy Yeung/Hsu Chi, all of which get roughly equal screen time over the course of the movie (it's not a Chiau star vehicle, in case that's what you're looking for). The plot is fairly typical of New Year's fair, but well done. Characters are good, and performances are good (Chiau, Kot, Ng Man Tat, Sandra Ng) / acceptable (Daniel Chan, Hsu Chi, Sammi, Kristy) as you'd expect. The humour is pretty funny, despite some subtitle failings and the wholesale rip-off of a scene from an episode of Friends in one place. The movie certainly leaves you with a big smile on your face at the end, and contains quite a few memorable moments. Definitely recommended. The DVD is pretty decent by Mei Ah's standards.

Reviewed by: spanishninja Date: 06/08/2001 Summary: Chinese New Year mess I've seen my share of Chinese New Year "family" comedies. In fact, Stephen Chow's been in his share of them as well. But this is not even on par with the "All's Well Ends Well" movies of years past. Chow fans will probably be disappointed here, as he is only a secondary character. Even worse, the lead character seems to be the extremely annoying (and equally untalented) Eric Kot, who took his awful performance in "Lawyer Lawyer" and made it even more annoying. Perhaps the lone bright spot in the entire film is the presence of Sammi Cheung and Kristy Yang, which managed to only slightly offset the annoying performance by Hsu Chi. Furthermore, the story isn't exactly compelling and was quite a bore. In short, with two annoying characters and a bad plot, this movie just can't be recommended. Rating = 4.5/10 Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: baoshikang Date: 06/04/2001 Summary: Diverting fun, but not a Steven Chow film per se... ...not that that is necessarily a bad thing. More of an ensemble piece. I thought it was quite cute and Hsu Chi and Kristy Yang are great to look at. Actually, so is Daniel Chan. He's maybe even prettier. Major plot item ripped off from the Julia Roberts episode of Friends in Sammi (who doesn't look that good for some reason and talks funny)and Chow segment. Corny finale with everybody getting together (hope I haven't ruined the surprise) has one of the most hilarious gags I've seen lately in a movie.

Reviewed by: Yellow Hammer Date: 05/10/2001 The Lucky Restaurant is known throughout HK for its egg tarts. The owner Mr. Li (Ng Man-Tat) is faced with a big rent increase. Combined with a lack of customers, he is seriously considering closing up shop. The other themes in the movie involve two of the waiters, Sui (Stephen Chow) and Fook (Eric Kot). Sui, better known as the Prince of Egg Tarts, is a ladies man. He one day encounters his match, his first love Candy, from high school (Sammi Cheng), now a registered nurse. Fook is a foolish looking character but with a heart of gold who meets up with his first love Fanny (Kristy Yang), who works at a Tae Kwon Do facility. Mr. Li's son Nam (Daniel Chan) is a photographer for a gossip magazine, a big Chiba Maruko and Siu San (two Japanese cartoon characters) fan, who meets up with Fon Fon (Hsu Chi), the daughter of a real estate tycoon. Of course the movie goes back and forth between joy and heartbreak, success and failure. What will happen to all these relationships? What will happen to the restaurant? Cute, light fare movie, easy on the brain and eyes.

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 02/28/2001 Summary: Two movies in one Chow Sing Chi is mostly in the 2nd half of this movie!! Though i barely remember it, it wasn't as funny as it should of been!! The Love story with SHU QI was cute and it moved me, believe it or not!! Not really a Chow Sing Chi movie is it if he's only in half of the movie!! 5.5/10

Reviewed by: s**** Date: 11/16/2000 Summary: The WORST Stephen Chow movie Seriously, this is the worst Stephen Chow movie I've ever seen. By far. I'm a fan, and I previously thought anything with Chow was worth watching. That was until I stumbled across this film... Well, I learned my lesson, anyway. Hear my warning and stay away. I guess that's not a sufficient review... Well, first of all, Stephen Chow is barely in this film. He plays a supposedly callous womanizer who works for a restaurant in Hong Kong. In reality, Stephen Chow's character is still in love with a girl he had a crush on in high school, who now hates him because he accidentally ripped off her dress at a school dance... Yeah. No, it's not funny. Yes, I know it sounds like it could be funny. No. It's not. Really. So now the girl works as a nurse, and Stephen Chow is trying to win her back. He's the best part of this movie, I guess, but he doesn't have a lot to do in a familiar role and appears to be on the verge of nodding off in some scenes. The rest of the movie is comprised of similar comic romance storylines. The restaurant all the main characters work at is on the verge of going out of business, as the cruel, gangster-connected landlady has raised the rent beyond their means in order to sell the property. So the main storyline is these wacky, wacky characters trying to find a way to keep the restaurant. In the meantime, they all are involved in their own romances, which are bogged down by the usual misunderstandings and wacky, wacky situations. It's all very tiresome. Hsu Chi, quickly becoming one of my least favorite actresses, plays the rebellious, deceitful daughter of a millionaire. I think her storyline is the worst. It's hard to choose. The entire thing builds to a screwball comedy, ATTACK THE GAS STATION-style finale, which just feels forced. By that time, the obnoxious characters and staggering cliches will have beaten even the most resilient viewer into a dazed submission, and they will weep for joy when the end credits finally roll and they are free again. As previously stated, I am a huge fan of Stephen Chow's work, and I have always enjoyed Lee Lik Chi as a director. How they could have missed so badly on this one is beyond me. Perhaps it's because this is not their usual style; instead of the stylish nonsense I've come to expect from the pair, this is a fairly straight romantic comedy. I generally like romantic comedies, and I hate to see directors limit themselves to specific genres, but this film is a miserable experience. This is one of the least funny comedies I have ever seen. Beware.