LOVE UNDERCOVER

The story
Bumbling female cop gets assigned to an undercover case. Her target: a rich young man suspected of triad activities. They meet. He is smitten by her. She plays along. They fall in love. He eventually finds out her true identity. They break up. She gets into a near-death experience. They make up. And live happily ever after.

Nothing new there. It’s the same old plot told and re-told again. This time round though, the ‘she’ is played by Miriam Yeung and the ‘he’ by drool-worthy Daniel Wu.

Love Undercover is a comedy and an absurd one too. If intelligent humour is what you like as opposed to nonsensical farce, then forget it. This movie, for want of a better description, is insane and utterly and entirely stupid. Actually, the sanest character in the movie was probably Daniel Wu’s – who just seemed to me, uncomfortably out of place in that sea of silliness.

Yea, so Love Undercover is a comedy. Is it funny though?

I remember laughing, yes. Though most of the time it was at the senselessness of the whole thing. Actually, I think the only time I truly laughed was at the beginning when Miriam was ‘ordered’ to go undercover. The reason given to her as to why she was chosen was just so genuinely honest and satirical – she was single, she had no family, she was therefore dispensable and thus, the best person for the job!

On the whole, Love Undercover does its part in entertaining. And I guess one consolation is that it doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is – a comedy.

The leads
Miriam Yeung – so, is she the next Sammi Cheng of movies? Gosh, I hope not. One Sammi Cheng is quite enough, thank you. Miriam does quite well in generating some laughs here and she has definitely improved compared to her performance in TVB’s A Taste of Love. Though judging from the sort of movies she’s been in, it’s very likely she’s going to be caught in a ‘Sammi’ trap if she isn’t more discriminating in choosing her roles – like Sammi, it’s Miriam playing Miriam.

Daniel Wu – drool, drool and more drool. Even if this guy isn’t a great actor, he’s definitely a feast to look at. And I liked the contrast of his character – while the others in this movie were definitely slap-stick roles, Daniel’s was more subtle and controlled – the rise of a brow, a slight upturn of the lips. But I guess his role here wasn’t to provide much of the laughs. That was left to Miriam and the rest of the gang. Daniel’s performance? Adequate. Though I can’t help but think that he should probably not take up any more comedies. It just doesn’t seem to suit him very much.

The chemistry
It’s there. But…but…Miriam and Daniel? Oh, come on. She isn’t what I would call a beauty while he is ~swoon~. But they do look really comfortable and happy with each other. And there is that warm feeling you get watching them together – like they were meant to be. Interesting that this movie sparked off rumours that Miriam and Daniel got together after. Both parties have denied it, of course.

So, to watch or not to watch?
You’ve got a bunch of friends over at your place. You’re looking forward to an enjoyable night without deep thought or conversation – just laughs and mindless babble with your mates. Plus you’ve already watch Shaolin Soccer a dozen times. So yea, why not. Give Love Undercover a go. It’s a made-in-Hong Kong comedy and if that’s anything to go by, you should know what to expect. That is, don’t expect too much. It’ll turn out to be a lot better that way. At the very least, there’s always Daniel Wu.

This review can also be found at spcnet.
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