The Shopaholics (2006)
Reviewed by: JohnR on 2006-11-03
Summary: Bad Silly
About 15 minutes worth of movie stretched into 91.

The pluses are that Lau Ching-Wan and Cecilia Cheung do their usual good work and there are some laughs.

The minuses are Jordan Chan's hamminess (not as much as Fantasia, but along similar lines - it's almost like his character is mentally retarded) but, most of all, there just isn't a full movie's worth of material here. (I'm being unfair to Jordan Chan, he was just doing what he was asked to do; in fact, most all of the characters are one-dimensional, cartoon-like, and dumb.) I was being patient at the beginning, waiting for the set-up to be completed so the movie could shift into high gear, but instead it slips into neutral and sits there revving - making a lot of noise but going nowhere. The sequence in which Dr. Luk (Paula Tsui)tries to get the four main characters to properly pair off became painful; I just wanted it to stop, but it went on and on, trying desperately to get the movie to the 91 minute mark.

And when that sequence did finally stop, Wai Ka-Fai throws in a miracle (involving little girls in angel costumes - what subtlety!) and a quick and-they-lived-happily-ever-after ending.

Was this movie about something? Possibly it has some meaning or significance to Hong Kong natives, but for me it was just a quick joke stretched out too far.
Reviewer Score: 4