Why oh why oh why do they do this? There's few things more frustrating than a director treating his audience like idiots. For such serious, topical and gripping subject matter, do we require to be put through such scenes of puke-worthy sentimentality? Perhaps it's the theatrical flair of Raymond To coming through onto the picture, but if so, does that not make him unsuitable to handle this material (although he penned it himself)? The drama lies in the premise, not the script.

Parts of FOREVER AND EVER were sombre, thought-provoking and genuinely touching, complemented by superb performances from Syliva Chang, Chapman To and Lee Pui Shing in particular. Then every half hour cue the sappy music with a scene of Chi Mo basking in a shower of confetti or Sylvia Chang prompting an audience to join her in song. The we come to the image of the brilliant rays of light shining through the crucifix into a darkened room. There were other scenes of religious discussion between Chi Mo and his mum which were handled with plausibility and were not shoving anything down the viewer's throat, but it was eventually taken to too far an extreme.

One more major complaint. AIDS awareness is not exactly thriving these days anywhere, let alone HK. In the film, Sylvia Chang buys separate cutlery and sheets for Chi Mo and tells his younger brother not to hug him. At not point does the film dispel these notions of contraction through simple human contact. As the script itself make these notions, it seems irresponsible not to educate otherwise.

So a big sigh in places, a lump in the throat in others, a groan elsewhere. As much as I appear to attack the film, I would still recommend it. My anger comes from the fact that FOREVER AND EVER shows such promise, but ultimately self-destructs like an alcoholic footballer.