Film review: Temporary Family
At a time when the world's most expensive property has gone on sale here and people's ability to afford housing has hit a new low, it's difficult to make light of Hongkongers' property obsession and real estate woes.
Starring: Nick Cheung Ka-fai, Sammi Cheng Sau-man, Angelababy Yeung Wing
Director: Cheuk Wan-chi
Category: IIA (Cantonese and Putonghua)
At a time when the world's most expensive property has gone on sale here and people's ability to afford housing has hit a new low, it's difficult to make light of Hongkongers' property obsession and real estate woes.
But director-scriptwriter Cheuk Wan-chi does just that, before deciding that there are more laughs to be mined from juvenile jokes involving fluorescent condoms and stray pubic hairs.
It is packed with side jokes, sub-plots and celebrity cameos (including politician Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and entertainers Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Ivana Wong Yuen-chi and Dayo Wong Chi-wah) that distract more than help the plot. Ultimately, the film belongs to its main man and leading lady, who show in their first significant screen pairing that they are good at generating laughter and drama in equal measure.
Nick Cheung Ka-Fai plays Lung, a property agent told by his air stewardess girlfriend Julie (Myolie Wu Hang-yee) that she will only marry him if they can live as a couple in a 1,000 sq ft flat on Tai Hang Road within a year of his having proposed to her. In desperation, he concocts a scheme that sees him become co-owner of a luxury penthouse from which he hopes to turn a quick profit.
Of the property's three other co-owners, working-class girl Hak (Angelababy Yeung Wing) decides to be part of the deal because she trusts Lung, the closest thing to a father in her life. Very Wong (Oho Ou Hao) is a gullible rich mainland colleague of Lung's, eager to show his wealthy dad that he can make money too. Charlotte (Sammi Cheng Sau-man) is an unhappy recent divorcee who Lung turned from potential client into fellow property speculator.