Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 07/13/2011 Two of Hong Kong's most popular actors, Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, team up and strap on fat suits in Love on a Diet, a somewhat unconventional take on your usual romantic comedy that doesn't totally transcend the usual pitfalls of the genre, but gets enough mileage out of the charisma of its' stars to make it enjoyable to sit through, even if you're not usually a fan of these types of pictures. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Hyomil Date: 04/07/2011 Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 08/15/2003 Summary: ENJOYED IT!! Though i had no expectations this would be as good as NEEDING YOU..... i did though enjoy watch this. I did laugh often and i did feel for the characters. There was a time through the movie i felt like pressing the fast forward button. A good comedy to watch with a typical fluffy ending to go with it!! 7.25/10 Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Wu'xiaBadger Date: 01/16/2003 Summary: Shallow Lau I was a little trepidatious, comedies with actors in fat suits generally don't do it for me. But the chemistry between Andy and Sammi helped it a great deal, as did To's always-slick direction. I felt this wasn't nearly as offensive to obesity as it could have been, and was amused throughout. Not exactly highbrow humor, but genuinly funny and romantic; a very rare combination. 7/10 for Andy Lau fans, 6/10 for anyone else. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: mehaul Date: 11/19/2002 Fun romantic comedy, but the pacing is not as smooth as the stars previous collaboration -Needing You. Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng are fun to watch together even when they're both the size of a house. 7/10 Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Dyogenez Date: 11/17/2002 Summary: Great comedy From what seemed to be a slow start, this came off as one of the better romantic comedies i've watched. The characters are (remotely) realistiv, as are the feelings and emotional ties made in the movie. It did turn a little repetitive as time went on with more and more of the same weight loss, but i never lost interest. The ending also wrapped up the story nicely, leaving me wanting to see it again. Definetely a great romance. 7/10 Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Buckeyez Date: 07/29/2002 Summary: Very clever and entertaining! The only other recent "fat" movie I know is Shallow Hal which is thin on everything including ill humor script. Having said that, I have to honestly say that I was not at all disappointed with "Love on a Diet". It may just be the breakup sleeper film. As a lover of "Needing You". Any Lau and Sammi Cheung are paired once again and the chemistry is apparent. Both really did a fantastic job in playing their respective parts and I was laughing the whole way through and even got alittle teary eyed towards the end. I watched this with the entire family and all of us enjoyed it very much so.

Reviewed by: Stardust Date: 07/10/2002 Summary: The Latest Trend The re-teaming of Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng since "Needing You" shows that HK filmmakers like to take what's popular, then uses it till everyone's sick of it and can't lay another eye on it, and then they'll move on to the next "it" thing...and the cycle continues. Honestly, so many great ideas have been killed this way (e.g. anyone watched a good gambling movie lately in HK?). In "Love on a Diet", the only thing catchy are Andy and Sammi in fat suits. I wonder if they stole the idea from the U.S. movie "Shallow Hal"? The story is tolerable at first, then falls apart 3/4 of the way through. Andy is cute and manages to be the scene stealer here, while Sammi is basically same old, same old. I'm getting a little tired watching her play the same personality every time. After you get over the fact that they're both fat, the rest of the story is predictable: a happily ever after ending. Thanks to "Needing You", HK has made many similar movies with famous and/or up-and-rising stars (of course Sammi, and then Miriam Yeung, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Gigi Leung, etc.), making them more bankable in the film industry. Kinda makes one wonder when this trend is gonna end, huh? Rating: 8/10 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 01/12/2002 Summary: Nothing great There are enough reveiws here, but I will just add my comments. Overall, it's nothing great I thought, a few laughs, but most of it just doesn't seem to make sense...and is very unrealistic, even for a comedy. The film is clearly trying to appeal to peoples emotion, but it's too over the top, and I don't feel any of it. Rating: 2/5 (This rating is based on the year & genre, so don't think it's based as a comparison on new releases etc.) Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: Trigger Date: 11/20/2001 Summary: It's ok... Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng in fat suits. Not really groundbreaking make-up effects or anything. You could tell they were wearing makeup and rubber suits - it was pretty good I suppose, but this has certainly been done better elsewhere. I guess the moral of the story is that fat people can't be happy - only skinny people can be truly happy and in love. Aside from the anti-fat campaign this movie seems to run with, it's a fairly decent story. I live in the US and over here we make special allowances for the disadvantaged, crippled, impaired or otherwise imperfect. I guess in HK (seems to me to be this way I think), they treat cripples like dirt and look upon fat people like they are a blight on society. Interesting cultural differences. Anyway - Andy's fat and Sammi is fat. Sammi used to be skinny and was the girlfriend of a pianist who became famous and went off to tour. She missed him and began to eat too much to fill the void of lonliness until she became a 300 pounder. She meets Andy in Japan and latches on to him and he goes on a mission to make her skinny again so she can be with her boyfriend who doesn't know she's gotten fat. The interactions between the two are funny at times and at other times excruciating. I was particularly annoyed that Sammi's hair grew 8 inches in less than a month, but what cha gonna do? Overall I'd give it a 6.5/10 The DVD has a Making Of and is only a few bucks more than the VCD, but the VCD is certainly good quality Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: zarrsadus Date: 11/08/2001 Summary: Not as bad as what other reviewers are saying Usually whenever I review a movie, someone did a better job of writing a review than I could do, and with Love on a Diet, that's true again :). Being the casual HK movie viewer and not a critic really, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I guess I wasn't expecting a comedy when I saw this movie primarily because I saw Andy's music video for this movie first and could catch the tone of the film by seeing that. So going into the movie I was expecting a love story and that's what I got, a nice semi-romantic comedy about people who come together under unusual circumstances (to steal a phrase from another review for lack of a better quick summary, sorry). I will also agree that the movie really didn't pick up until the second half, though that's not to say I wasn't enjoying myself the first half but maybe that has to do with the hype surrounding this movie so I was just more anxious than usual and put up with it :). Overall I really liked this movie, maybe not the best HK film of the year, but certaintly one to be seen if for nothing more than to see what the hype is about and to see Andy and Sammi in fat suits ^_^. 7 out of 10. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: senordingdong Date: 10/14/2001 Summary: Trailer is misleading I was under the impression that this was a comedy, but I didn't laugh very much at all during this movie. The trailer for this movie has some very silly sounding music as well as some scenes that made it look like a nonsense comedy. However there weren't very many comedic scenes but there were lots of light hearted romantic moments. The prosthetics were pretty good, but the hands looked kinda rubbery at times. Overall, this is a pretty decent movie. 3/5 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: rolandyu Date: 09/02/2001 Summary: not that good... I don't think this movie is that good. The story is too common and predictable. I don't think Sammi performed really well in this movie. Andy's Japanese is terrible. Overall: 1/5 Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: magic-8 Date: 08/03/2001 Summary: Lau Shines, Cheng Whines Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng team up again in "Love on a Diet," the latest film from Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai. Lau and Cheng don fat suits to get into their characters for this movie. Directors and producers, To and Wai are fishing in the deep waters of situation comedies that has proven to be profitable for the duo. As such, this is a modest film that is a fun way to be entertained. The fat suits work, for the most part, but act as a mild distraction, particularly with the latex hands that look awkward on camera. But, since this is a comedy, most will forgive the cosmetic make-up effects and suspend their disbelief. The fat premise could have been some other artificial impediment, but that's the choice the filmmakers made. Andy Lau shines, while Cheng still whines. The whining seems to be her calling card, from "Needing You" to "Wu Yen." "Love on a Diet" is a more engaging film than "Wu Yen," which I thought was dreadful. In this flick, To has Lau and Cheng revisit the formula that made "Needing You" a success. Lau helps Cheng to lose weight so that she can meet her old boyfriend, a musician, using a plot device from Leo McCarey's 1939 film "Love Affair," where the two will reunite under a particular tower in Japan at a future date. If we overlook the impossible task that Cheng has committed to (losing 200 pounds within six months), we can have some fun watching Lau and Cheng do their best in creating caricatured fat people. One of the funnier moments is when Lau works with his buddies to come up with ways for Cheng to lose weight, from tapeworms to special potions. Lau helps Cheng financially by working as a street-performing, human punching bag. Of course, she doesn't know how he provides for her needs until after she meets up with her old boyfriend. Recently, To and Wai seem to be creating films that feel small. Nothing about this film makes it urgent, more like composing for television. Almost as if To and Wai were taking a vacation from serious cinema. The assembly line production techniques have taken their toll. The direction was very pedestrian. "Love on a Diet" is not a laugh out loud riot, but an amusing, warm-hearted look at a two people who come together under odd circumstances and find that they share more in common then they originally thought.

Reviewed by: angelyy_b Date: 07/26/2001 Summary: Thumbs down!!! A really bad film!!!..The storyline is simple. Besides, with all the publicity surrounding 'fat' Andy and Sammi, I had expected that their make-up would be at least on par with Eddie Murphy's 'Nutty Professor'! Boy, was I wrong!! Both of them looked bloated than fat!!...All in all..a really disappointing piece!!

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 07/24/2001 Summary: Half awful, half okay I'm not sure about other Chi audiences, but here in Sydney, the theatre which sometimes screens HK movies had to add an extra daily session to cover the demand for this one. And after watching it, I'm still not sure why. The first half is pretty awful. The gee-whiz factor and novelty of seeing Andy and Sammi in those special prosthetics wear off after about a minute. There is much "wah-ing" and open mouths, but nothing which really engages. Sad to say, but the film really doesn't pick up until Sammi appears back close to her normal size. The film is quite watchable from then on, even getting one a little misty-eyed by the end. The best guess I can make about what I, or anyone else, would like about this film, is that it largely rests on Sammi's considerable charm and charisma. And given that this is only really in evidence for half the film, it either says a lot for her or not much about this film. If you really want to see Sammi shine, WU YEN would be a better bet. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: Paul Fox Date: 06/24/2001 Summary: Love On A Diet, Heavy on Laughs, But Light On Reality With the success of last year's film Needing You at the Hong Kong box-office, it was only a matter of time before the same ingredients were used to try and cook up another hit. Thus again the audience is treated to Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng in front of the camera and Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai behind it. This time around some American special effects are added on as icing to the cake. But given that the film sahres its' opening day in Hong Kong with the new and overproduced Pearl Harbor, one can only wonder if it can find the same success. To say this film is a 'big' production is a bit of an understatement. The main course features two of Hong Kong's biggest stars wear 'fat' suits throughout most of the film. The most humorous aspect of this is the fact that both Lau and Cheng are known for being extremely petite, or as locals like to say "hou fit". The two stars do work well together and while the effects are not always 100% convincing, their performance is. Another big plus to the film is that it has made the leap outside of the Hong Kong setting and occurs entirely in Japan. The story itself is the typical Hong Kong style romance with a candy coating. If you like that type of genre then chances are you will like this film. If there is anything negative to be said about the film it would have to be its lampoon-like portrayal of overweight people as eating machines. This commonly portrayed stereotype makes the film seem silly and less genuine and some may find its cartoonish nature offensive. But taken with a grain of salt (and a big bucket of popcorn) this film serves up as a nice appetizer. Overall review rating - 4 (out of 5) Review by Paul Fox Location:  UA Shatin Time: Thursday 21 June   4:10pm Reviewer Score: 8