Chinese customs (or superstitions, depending on your perspective) such as astrology, feng shui, numerology and so forth have always added a unique and rather colourful local flavour to HK cinema, from various horror genre flicks or Lam Ching Ying's taoist rituals in the gyonsi movies to feng shui burial ground motives in numerous, wide-ranging films such as "Bury me High" or "Royal Tramp 2". Belief in the power of Feng Shui in particular, apparently runs so high in the Territory that this produced enough material for mockery via the faux documentary "How to get rich with Fung Shui" a few years ago.

MLS adds a gentle, light-hearted mockery of a feng-shui focused obsession with luck and destiny as the prime driver and narrative glue for a plot that in the end is not much more than a formula-driven, assembly-line manufactured romance comedy. Luckily, the film does not star Sammi Cheng but her much more likable clone, Miriam Yeung, along with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as her partner.

Miriam plays a decidly unlucky woman who seeks the help of famous Feng Shui expert Tony Leung and in the process the two predictably develop some chemistry while battling the curses of a numerologist who's responsible for Miriam's clouded fate. Everyone tries to be funny (involving anything from "funny wigs" to crossdressing and silly sightgags like Tony covered in shrimps and beans), the plot moves along briskly and after an entertaining 90 minutes things come to the expected conclusion, and this being a New Year's comedy, the crew lines up at the end for the usual Gung Hei Fat Choi...

While not a comedic gem by any means, the film kept me entertained with its frothy attitude, light-hearted script and mostly rather brainless assortment of gags and pratfalls. The leads are likable, the Feng Shui angle is fresh, and so I'd give it thumbs up.