Wednesday, April 20, 2011 -

As promised in my previous post, here's my actual review of an Honest-to-God Romantic comedy....Johnnie To's new film; "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"...its actually been quite some time since I've had to catch a romantic flick in the cinema...and I can't say I missed the experience at all....LOL

As uncharacteristic as it is for me to catch such a flick, much less review it, the movie does kind of explore some very interesting relationship themes that I'll touch on later in this post.... I know, How very Aunty Agony of me...well anyways here you go:

Don't Go Breaking my Heart

“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is one of those full-out Saccharine-sweet romantic movies that women absolutely adore and guys need to endure. Why did I agree to watch this movie you ask? Well….one reason; Johnnie To.

Johnnie To, as previously mentioned, is one my favorite Hong Kong film directors and his romantic comedy “Love on a diet” with Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng was one of the few I actually enjoyed. Even his lesser, fluffier films like the Chinese New Year cash-in movie “Fat Choi Spirit” or “Love for all seasons” were pretty entertaining and more well-executed than 90% of films in this genre.

The plot of the story presents the ultimate female fantasy; a simple plain Jane is chased by two extremely eligible bachelors, embodied by Louis Koo and Daniel Chan and she can only pick one.

Each of the two represents the opposite spectrum of the female ideal of a guy; Louis Koo is the cocky, flirtatious Bad boy/ladies’ man who struggles to stay monogamous and Daniel Wu is the artistic, sweet, dedicated nice guy who is just completely into the female lead. Both are equally matched in the looks department and are filthy rich; so let the games begin!

Over the course of the film, the two suitors pull out all the stops trying to get the girl; giant hearts made out of post-it notes, sports cars, cooking romantic lunches, performing magic shows/ puppet shows, singing love songs over the phone, last minute trips to China to watch the sunrise on a skyscraper and the ante is constantly upped all the way till the film’s finale.

My favorite corny romantic trick was taking a diamond ring and placing it in the middle of an open dictionary with the definition of “Love” highlighted, when light passes through the ring, the shadow cast in the middle of the open book will be in the shape of a heart. Creative? Sweet? Or just too much damn time on his hands? You decide!!

Underneath all the fluff, one of the interesting underlying questions posed was whether a girl would ultimately pick the “bad boy” or the “nice guy”? Now this question has always been the source of considerable debate; research shows that when polled, more than 80% of girls will say that they will go for “the nice guy” but actual field tests conducted show that this answer may not be indicative of what happens in real life and that the females polled may have only given that answer because it was the “politically correct” response.

My actual opinion on this? Well I’ll go more into more detail on that after the movie review.

I felt that one of the weaker elements of the film was the fact that the audience was almost pre-conditioned to root for Daniel Wu’s character over Louis Koo’s character right from the get-go, minimizing the suspense of who the central character is going to pick in the end. Halfway into the movie and you’ll probably know that the film will end in a politically-correct but not necessarily realistic manner.

Thankfully, Johnnie To throws a nice curveball towards the end of the film; just when the nice guy sweeps the female lead off her feet, the director introduces an unexpected element into the mix that keeps the audience guessing; that of the reformed Bad boy. And well I guess, nothing sets a girl’s heart aflutter more than the image of a reformed bad boy; having come back down to earth, all repentant and vulnerable.

All in all, despite the fact that I was lapsing into a diabetic coma from all the sweetness, I thought that this film was an entertaining enough romantic comedy, that was rather deftly directed by Johnnie To.

End of Review


Disclaimer: The findings presented in the next section of this post have been based on copious amount of personal research, observation and a decade’s worth of emo debates/discussions with male friends.

So my opinion on the eternal Bad boy/nice guy debate? It’s simple:

A girl would date the bad boy over the nice guy any day of the week.

It’s a hard pill to swallow but absolutely true.

Those that fit in the bad boy mold are generally more outwardly self-assured, exciting and have a more dangerous edge to them while Nice guys are just that…nice.

The nice guys are always dependable, always available, always willing to bend backwards to accommodate the girl they like. More often than not, their desire to please the one they like just ends up making them look like push-overs. They present no discernible challenge (I.e. No excitement) for the female species.

The bad boys play by their own rules and never act like they have got anything to lose, plus they offer the females an enticing challenge; to have the chance of being that one person that rehabilitates them and changes them for the better, where so many others have failed.

Sure the women know that its more or less a fool’s errand to think they could ever fundamentally change a person’s personality, but that doesn’t stop them from trying does it? Everyone wants to be optimistic.

The general cycle associated with this bad boy/nice guy dilemma seems to break down into two stages that are as follows:

Dating Stage:

-Girls are generally between 16-28 yrs of age and at their prime
-Value excitement and fun over dependability and stability at this stage
-More short-term rather than long-term oriented with the advantage of youth on their side (e.g. Fun and unpredictability>stability and predictability)
-Preference skews towards the bad boy archetype rather than the nice guy
-Physical attractiveness is a crucial factor in this stage
-Attracted to flirtatious, cocky-funny style of humor
-Sees a guy putting her needs above his own as not being an attractive trait (e.g. too “available” or needy)
-Given a choice, would rather love then be loved (e.g. be with someone she loves rather than someone who really loves her)

Settling down stage:

-Girls in these stage are already in the late 20’s
-Options are now limited as they approach the end of their shelf-life
-Takes on a more balanced, long-term perspective
-Stability, dependability and security are now crucial factors.
-Looks and humor are a big plus but not a must
-A guy placing her needs above his own is now seen as an extremely desirable trait
-Given a choice, would rather much be loved than to love (e.g. preference would be towards the nice guy who loves them rather than the bad boy they so desperately love)

My secondary school friend (someone in the mold of the Nice guy archetype) once posed me a simple enough question, after a long discussion about the amount of effort and thought he put into an unrequited love affair with a friend of his, who had a penchant for dating ‘jerks’, the question was something like this: “When do you think she will ever acknowledge or even appreciate the things I’ve done for her and just take a chance on me?”

My reply after hearing his whole sob story: “Probably when she’s old and grey and her options are limited or when you’ve finally and completely distanced yourself from her to avoid continual disappointment…but you’ll probably already be with someone else by then though.”

Pessimistic? Sure it is but I’ve yet to find someone who can disprove what I’ve said to him, for all purposes and intents that’s just the way life usually is. Bittersweet. Usually the former more so than the latter.

Well, there you have it; my take on this decades-long debate! Give praise underserving ones, for this day you have been privy to the superior insights and enlightened teachings of a higher being.

Next: To get this lingering sweet taste out of my mouth, I’ll be reviewing Herman Yau’s Untold story next; the most controversial Category 3 Hong Kong film of all time. Trust me, You’ll never want to eat another Char Siew Pao again. Be there.

11:02 PM