Customer Reviews

Needing You

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though they've begun to dabble in commercial cinema, Milky Way Productions has never done a movie this fluffy and inconsequential. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai have adapted a Metro Radio audio play about workplace romance and gossip, and even brought in the two stars who performed said play: Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng. The result is probably the most satisfying and enjoyable HK romance since The Golden Girls.

Lau is Wah-Siu, womanizing top sales manager of an HK electronics firm. Cheng is Kinki, one of his newly transferred assistants, who finds her boyfriend Dan (Gabriel Harrison) cheating on her. Kinki is an emotionally unusual girl. Given to fits of pathological cleaning, Kinki is a perpetual doormat but a pure-hearted girl (is there ever any other type in an HK romance?). Though Wah-Siu initially finds Kinki an awful employee, he eventually recognizes her kindness and work ethic, and proceeds to befriend and mentor her in resolving her situation with Dan. Meanwhile, old flame Fiona (Fiona Leung) arrives and senses that Kinki may be occupying to much to Wah-Siu's time. She arranges to have internet mogul Roger Young (Raymond Wong) squire Kinki, which drives Wah-Siu into his own romantically-depressed spiral.

This airy movie sounds like a typical weeper, but Johnnie To and Wai-Ka Fai find new ways to entertain. Wah-Siu and Kinki are both overdrawn but likable and identifiable characters, and their romantic trials are told more through incidental action than verbal affirmation. Leave it to the Milky Way guys to pioneer a cinematic romantic comedy. When whole pages of exposition can be substituted by one finely-timed gesture or action, it makes moviegoing all the more enjoyable. Sammi Cheng and Andy Lau manage to find some genuine chemistry, with Cheng turning in a delightfully endearing performance. Her goofy charm and girlish grace make her the most winning HK romantic comedy lead since Anita Yuen. At the halfway point of 2000, Needing You qualifies as the best Hong Kong film of the year.

If you're looking for a sweet, light-weight distraction in your movie life, this one will do. This film succeeds, with appropriate casting for the material, good pacing, and laughs, because it's not trying too hard. Some Hong Kong romantic comedies try too hard to be funny and sweet. This one simply is.

It could be argued that there has not been an original movie plot since the silent age. Where does that leave us? It leaves us with the realization that it's not the story you tell, but HOW you tell the story. Of course this movie is predictable, it's a romantic comedy. If a suspense or mystery film is predictable then it ceases to to be suspenseful or mysterious. But 99% of romantic comedies end the same way and everybody knows it. The pleasure is in the journey. Your traveling partners on this journey are the dependable Andy Lau and the mesmerizing Sammi Cheng. Ms. Cheng is a wonderful, quirky actress who commands your attention every time she's on the screen, even if she's just sipping a soda through a straw. The writing is crisp and funny. The direction is brought to you by that wonderful duo Johnny To & Wai Ka-fai, who are responsible for some of the best HK movies in recent years, including "Beyond Hypothermia" and the gender bending "Wu Yen" which also starred Sammi Cheng. If you like romantic comedies, then this is your film.

As with most Chinese romantic comedies, Americans might find the storyline and the humor to be random at times. But compared to many other Chinese films, Needing You is cute, funny, and fluffy with its romance without being so "out there" that American audiences won't be able to relate.

I've watched the three "Golden Trio" (Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng, & Director Johnnie To) films already: Needing You, Love On a Diet, and Yesterday Once More. Happy Dieting is probably the funniest. And Yesterday Once More is probably the most serious. But Needing You strikes the happy balance between the two, funny but serious, relatable and interesting.

This movie involves two people who eventually end up working together. The office anticts of the coworkers are funny. Paradoies from Andy Lau's own movie,"Full Throttle" are funny and hilarious. Overall a cute and light movie.

i couldnt believe when the case said it was directed by johnny to...the same director who brought me joy in ' The Mission'???

Andy Lau plays Wah-Siu, a player/top sales manager of an Electronics firm. Sammi Cheng is Cinki, his new assistant, and she finds her Bf cheating on her. She is very weird(emotionally) she's a pure-hearted girl( how many grls have we seen in HK cinema that are *pure hearted*??)Though at first, Wah-Siu finds Cinki a horrible assistant, he eventually recognizes her kindness and work ethic, and becomes friend with her starts to give her advices, to resolve the situation with her bf. Then Fiona arrives and senses that they are spending too much time together so she sets up a little somethin somethin...

Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, seem to have great chemistry. She is probably the best Andy Lau grl in the business. Sure it's cheesy, weepy, and been made over and over and over, but MilkyWay did a very fine job of direction, so it is very enjoyable.

watch with your friends, gf/bf anyone....i stil think this was one of the best movies of 2000.

If you're looking for a sweet, light-weight distraction in your movie life, this one will do. This film succeeds, with appropriate casting for the material, good pacing, and laughs, because it's not trying too hard. Some Hong Kong romantic comedies try too hard to be funny and sweet. This one simply is.

This movie was nominated for best HK flick of 2000 along w/ 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' and 'In the mood for love'. It's a light hearted and charming movie. Sammi Cheng is very cute in this movie and the plot is interesting enough to keep you in suspense until the end. For those that liked 'C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri', you'll like this movie as well.

Johnny To directing Sammi Cheung and Andy Lau. The best romantic comedies in the world right now are coming out of Hong Kong. Sammi Cheung is a star in Asia, yet most Americans have never heard of her. Here she plays a girl who's taken advantage of by her boyfriend, her co-workers, her family. When she gets upset she goes on a cleaning rampage. The Chinese language seems to have a lot of "wa" sounds, and Sammi turns them all into one large whine. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. It's too damn funny. Andy Lau plays her no-nonsense boss. He has no time for romance, just uses hookers. And then Sammi accidentally starts a workplace rumor about him. It's a sex farce, and yet also a vulnerable and sweet love story. This is a brilliant peek into modern Hong Kong. Romantic and funny. Johnny To is a master.


My Absolutely Insane Attempt To Rank All Cinema

Although I wish my gf would start cleaning when stressed =) This lighthearted comedy is something worth watching. It is funny to see Andy Lau playing a character who can't ride a bike.