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Cast:
Aaron
Kwok
Kelly
Chen
Teresa
Mo
Eric
Tsang
Mark
Lui
Jessica
Hsuan
Producer:
Claudie
Chung
Doris
Tse
Director:
Hai
Chung Man
Score:
 
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AND
I HATE YOU SO
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2000 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
While
encountering a particularly troubled day, newspaper columnist
Wu stumbles upon a quaint second-hand shop and decides to
browse through its stock. Her dreadful morning continues when
she finds a rare vinyl LP that she herself bought for her
first boyfriend. Annoyed at the discovery, Wu decides to buy
the LP back from the shop and ask her former boyfriend why he
sold it. Unfortunately the sentimental item has already been
reserved by a local radio DJ who specialises in unusual vinyl
on his show. All attempts to persuade the young DJ, Zhang, to
sell the LP to her are quickly rebuffed and her pleas are even
ridiculed live on-air. These actions create a small scale
vendetta between two very opinionated personalities who carry
out their war of words through the press and on the airwaves.
With both parties enjoying success due to their public
disagreement, the pressure is continually focused on them to
maintain the interest. Gradually however, the enemies begin to
realise that their feelings are turning towards a begrudging
friendship and perhaps love. Coincidentally Wu's first
boyfriend re-appears in the hope of rekindling their
relationship and Zhang is left knowing that he has just one
chance to win over the woman he loves.
The
artistic triumph of 'Anna
Magdalena' led to the re-teaming of director Hai Chung
Man, cinematographer Peter Pau and Canto-pop stars Aaron Kwok
and Kelly Chen. While 'And I Hate You So' is a pleasant enough
diversion, it certainly isn't up to the quality of its
predecessor. The mixture of charm and depth that pervaded the
former effort is unfortunately lacking in this attempt to
mimic the Hollywood romantic-comedies that often prove
fruitful at the box-office. The combination of characters that
feature in the film do owe a certain debt to hits like 'You've
Got Mail', but even here 'And I Hate You So' lacks a certain élan.
The main reason for this is the uneven pacing that blights the
film; the opening events are quickly despatched and the
initial animosity is firmly established, but the sudden
turnabout at the conclusion seems hard to believe. This
weakness means that it cannot compare to the very best Hong
Kong has to offer in the genre.
Having
acknowledged these flaws though, it is important to note that
this isn't a waste of viewing time. The oft-criticised lead
pair are effective in their roles and do lend some style to
the proceedings. Director Hai Chung Man also gives the setting
a very refreshing look that means the finished article is
visually very enriched.
'And
I Hate You So' could and should have been much better; instead
the viewer is left with a good film that simply didn't realise
its full potential.
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