Went to watch this with an open mind, knowing how poor local Malaysian movies have been for the few decades. Generally felt slightly disappointed as the initial script promises so much potential but delivered only occasionally. Quite an uneven movie, excellent at times but real crap at times too. It's also a bit of a let down at the end.
On the plus points - some good acting performances (especially from the Malay girl and her family). Some of the scenes had me laughing out loud, Harith steals them each and every time he appears, and the two elder Malay ladies are excellent too.
On the negative side - very poor directing to the point of being amateurish. I wonder is there such a budget limitation that on many occasions, there is only one video camera used. The camera pans in close up on actors who's not even speaking (hospital scene) for far too long. On another scene (street at night), an unfocused shot stays for a second or two before the characters walks into it. And on many other incidents, the directing shifts from one shot to another rather too quickly and incoherently. Screen shots of Ipoh streets (and street life) are inserted in throughout the movie (roadside musician) without any apparent reason. And while I understand the costs of using a second camera to follow a moving vehicle, still that should not detract the producers/director from engaging one. Harith's dialogue to his daughter and wife from the front of his car (almost at the end of the movie) is relegated to background noise without a second camera.
Overall, script is generally quite funny, but not enough so. Some supporting characters should have been developed more. Certain parts of the script also need more work. I would expect there'd be some conflict(s) between the Malay group and the Chinese group, but maybe the director fears to play the 'race' card too excessively. She also tries to make this into an 'artie' film but fails miserably. Some bad/lazy screen writing /directing spoils the overall fun. The producer/director should also spend much more time on post production and possible re-shoot some half dozen scenes. To best sum it up, a commendable effort but as in the movie 'Try Again'
harder the next time, please.
Plot/Story/Directing 1.6/4 Acting 1.2/2 Cinematography/Action 0.4/2 Must-See Factor/Others Misc. - 1.7/2
Overall Total 4.9/10
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