Help!!! (2000)
Reviewed by: Paul Fonoroff on 2000-08-25
The Hong Kong medical establishment in general and the hospital system in particular would seem to be ripe subjects for parody, but Help!!! totally misses the mark. This is director/producer Johnny To Kei-fung’s first attempt at satire, and it is clear that he and co-director/writer Wai Ka-fai have misdiagnosed their subject.

The script co-written by Wai, Yau Nai-hoi, and Ben Wong has some great ideas but is full of missed opportunities. Jordan Chan as a crusading doctor is inspired casting. Ekin Cheng as a surgeon turned auto repair technician is also brimming with potential. Cecelia Cheung as a principled medico is a bit farfetched—the 20-year-old teen idol looks and acts far too young to be practicing medicine—but even this could have been turned to the film’s advantage.

The picture begins as a spoof of ER-type television dramas, but never goes beyond making the same facile observations about lazy doctors, bossy nurses, and the money-grubbing nature of the health care industry. It’s a bit shocking and mirth-inducing for the first reel, but there isn’t much progress after that. One keeps hoping for the filmmakers to illuminate some larger truths and make more specific observations about hospitals and doctors in Hong Kong, but instead we’re treated to different gags with similar punch lines.

Comedies seem to work best when either "crazy" people are inhabiting a sane society, or "normal" folk are placed in a lunatic world. Help!!! belongs to neither camp. The doctors’ zaniness loses much of its edge when placed in the movie’s demented hospital environment. Later, when the picture takes a more serious and sentimental turn, the emotion comes across as limp rather than meaningful.

Despite a running time of under 90 minutes, the pace and energy lag. The most intriguing moment occurs at the end, when a fascinating plot twist (which will remain unrevealed in this review) puts the entire film in a totally different light. Like the other elements of Help!!!, the inherent possibilities are barely realized. It’s a good thing audiences can’t sue for malpractice.