“The Shopaholics” is a poorly written mess with only the undeniable star power of the two leads to recommend it. But all the talent of Lau Ching-Wan and Cecelia Cheung aren’t enough to overcome the slapdash, almost amateurish antics that made it onto the screen. Lau is Dr. Choosey Lee Kan-Yan, a famous psychiatrist who suffers from an almost paralyzing inability to make decisions—decisions about anything from who to marry to what to order for lunch. Cecelia Cheung is Fong Fong-Fong, a young woman abandoned as an infant in a high end woman’s clothing store “at the intersection of Prada, Gucci, Christian Dior and Valentino”. She is obsessed with acquired expensive gowns, shoes and accessories to the extent that she is crowded out of her apartment. As Richie Ho Kung-Fu, Jordan Chan is one of the richest but also one of the meanest young men in Hong Kong, a multi-billionaire who hates to part with a quarter for a daily newspaper.

Rounding out the talented but wasted cast is Ding Ding-Dong is a young woman suffering from horribly low self-esteem who regularly tries to kill herself by jumping from tall buildings. Played by Ellen Koon, she is a knockout with full lips, bedroom eyes, great hair and a lush body. Only in the movies would she be the consolation prize when it was time for the four of them to become two couples. The characters simply aren’t very interesting and become less so as the movie progresses. Old pros Law Kar-Ying, Wong Tin-Lam and Ha Chun-Chau walk through their cardboard thin roles and Maggie Shaw is wasted as a nurse who gives birth on a parquet floor of a shopping mall and the sidewalk on a busy commercial street. The last twenty minutes of the movie are a waste of talent, film stock and time.

There are no really memorable scenes, a few funny lines and periods of boredom that make driving across the flat expanses of the American plains seem exciting. A bad movie and not recommended.