Phua Chu Kang The Movie | |
---|---|
Directed by | Boris Boo |
Written by | Ong Su Mann |
Starring | Gurmit Singh Irene Ang Henry Thia Neo Swee Lin Lim Kay Siu |
Production companies | mm2 Entertainment Grand Brilliance |
Distributed by | Golden Village Primeworks Studios RAM Entertainment |
Release dates | |
Running time | 98 minutes |
Countries | Singapore Malaysia |
Languages | English Mandarin Dialects |
Budget | S$1 million |
Box office | S$691,300 [1] |
Phua Chu Kang The Movie is a Singaporean-Malaysian comedy film and sequel to sitcoms Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd . The film was released in Singapore on 12 August 2010 and Malaysia on 26 August 2010.
Following the events of Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd , Phua Ah Ma pays a visit to Phua Chu Kang and his wife Rosie Phua Chin Huay, who are currently based in Malaysia. Almost as soon as she arrives, she disappears, only to resurface mysteriously tending to an elderly man at a nursing home run by Lim Lau Pek, a crime boss and drug lord with his own gang who disguised himself as the owner of the nursing home, where the residents have been dying one by one, including an old man named Zaihan, one of the elderly man's good friend. Mistakenly, Lim believes Chu Kang is there to bid for a renovation job. Chu Kang agrees to the job only after Ah Ma calls in his nemesis, Frankie Foo, to bid for the job together with him, both in the hope of being awarded a lucrative job in the future. While Chu Kang is busy with construction, he misses his anniversary dinner with Rosie, who is wined and dined by Lim instead. At his luxurious mansion, Lim reveals that he has been siphoning the majority of funds from phone-in donations to the nursing home for his personal use. Shocked and guilty, Rosie attempts to convince Chu Kang to stop work to no avail. Meanwhile, Ah Ma reveals that the elderly man she has been looking after is Chu Kang's grandfather, Ah Kong, who abandoned Chu Kang in the belief that he would bring the family bad luck. Rosie joins forces with Ah Kong and Frankie, who has a crush on her, to find Lim's laptop in order to bring him to justice. The trio are caught in action by Lim and his 3 gangsters, who in turn are apprehended by the police that Chu Kang, who pretended to continue to work for Lim, called in. Chu Kang is reunited with Ah Kong, only to have Lim escape the clutches of the police before being caught by King Kong, who has returned from a date with the nursing home worker Angel. Chu Kang's reunion with Ah Kong is cut short when Ah Kong passes away, after accepting Chu Kang back to the family.
As early as 2000, the idea of a Phua Chu Kang movie had already been floated. However, Gurmit Singh and team felt that they had to wait for a script that combined Phua's trademark Singlish and physical humour with heartfelt drama and added new characters so that audiences would be willing to pay for it.
For his double role as Ah Kong, Gurmit Singh had to spend two hours in make-up.
This was actress Angie Seow's debut movie role.
The movie was mostly filmed at Sri Seronok Retirement Village in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [2]
Scriptwriter Ong Su Mann refused to watch the movie after being "dismayed" by the number of lines in its two-minute trailer that he didn't write. Instead of attending the premiere, he sent his mother and sister, who slept through most of it. [3]
Critical reception of Phua Chu Kang The Movie was overwhelmingly negative.
Phin Wong of TODAY found that the adaptation from small to big screen "ends up looking less like a film and more like a series of skits built around a barely-there story, with a handful of inexplicable melodrama thrown in", also calling it "an unfortunate waste of a talented cast playing well-loved characters capable of so much more."
Dylan Tan of The Business Times criticised its "scattershot plot", "annoying catchphrases shamelessly recycled", "banal gags", "exaggerated acting", "below-average production values" and "shoddy cinematography". He added, "To say PCK The Movie is a half-baked and rough effort could well be the understatement of the year as it’s neither original, clever nor grand enough to warrant a big-screen outing", claiming the film was made for the Malaysian market.
In contrast, Han Wei Chou of Channel NewsAsia found it "peppered with hilarious situations, side-splitting antics and well-delivered jokes that reflect the cast's comedic talents". He praised the film's director and screenwriter for managing to "translate the spirit of the television series onto the film medium quite well". [4]
Stefan Shih of MovieXclusive.com awarded the film 1.5/4, criticising its "Jack Neo-ish style" and "many blatant product placement[s]". He gave the "scriptwriters credit in getting creative with the setting", which allowed the film to focus on Phua and Rosie, but concluded that it is "only suitable for kids as it played out in juvenile fashion appealing only to that targeted demographic". [5]
Lai Swee Wei of Cinema Online gave the film 2.5/5. Lai praised it for providing "good reminiscence of the TV series" and its catch phrases, but criticised the "weak wordplay and slapstick which seemed aimed at younger audiences", the "lengthy storyline" with "unnecessary supporting character subplots" and the unmemorable ending. [6]
Gurmit Singh and Irene Ang were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively at the 1st Golden Wau Awards, aimed at promoting Chinese-language Malaysian films, for their roles in this movie. [7] Gurmit lost to Jack Neo in Homecoming (2011) while Ang lost to Angelica Lee in Ice Kacang Puppy Love (2010). [8]
Under One Roof was an English-language sitcom in Singapore. First aired in 1995, it was the first locally produced sitcom in Singapore. A critical and popular success, the show won the Best Comedy Programme or Series Award at the Asian Television Awards in both 1996 and 1997, a Best comedy actor award, three best comedy actress awards and was a finalist in the "Best Sitcom" category at the International Emmy Awards as well as the New York Festivals Awards. It paved the way for future Singaporean local sitcoms such as Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Police & Thief. It was also one of the most popular sitcoms in Singapore just like the other 2 popular Singaporean local sitcom and drama Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Growing Up respectively.
Gurmit Singh Virk Chainchal Singh is a Singaporean actor, comedian, presenter, and television personality. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1994 to 2014. He is best known for his role as the titular character Phua Chu Kang in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd and Phua Chu Kang The Movie, for which he won the Asian Television Awards prize for Best Performance by an Actor (Comedy) five times, from 1998 to 2001 and in 2003 for the former. From 2004 to 2005, he won the Highly Commended prize.
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ABC DJ was a Singaporean sitcom on MediaCorp TV Channel 5. This show often makes references to sensitive issues such as culture shock and racial discrimination. It also features guest appearances from the cast members in 2 Singaporean local sitcoms Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Police & Thief in episode 7 of this show. Furthermore, this show was also a combination of storylines from popular Singaporean local sitcoms and drama such as Under One Roof, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, Police & Thief, Living with Lydia and Growing Up respectively.
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