If you recall, one night I had a terrible insomnia. And one of the few activities I did awake in my supposed sleeping hours was to watch the Blu-ray version of a Hong Kong movie called “Break Up Club” on my TV (wearing my wireless headset of course). I love it so much that when the Movie Review Squad could not think of which movie to watch for the weekend, I suggested to watch “Break Up Club” at my home. I really wanted to watch the new Shu Qi movie in town. But why would local cinemas think that showing Shu Qi’s latest production twice a day on the smallest possible theater is enough to quench the desire of millions of Singaporeans? I do not know. And why would the world wants to see yet another Hairy Porter installment? That baffles me whenever I think about it.
I like “Break Up Club” because the onscreen chemistry between Fiona Sit and Jaycee Chan – son of Jackie Chan – is convincingly heartwarming and heart wrenching. As someone who was born in Hong Kong, I can totally relate to the drama and the emotion involved. Fiona Sit is charming, there is little doubt about it. I grew to like Jaycee Chan towards the end of the story. They are both good actors. This film is directed by Barbara Wong, who was also starring in “Break Up Club” as the director.
The story begins with a director wanting to source for a true breakup story for her next movie. People are interviewed and are handed with a camcorder to record a story of their own. Joe (played by Jaycee) has decided to give it a go after his recent breakup with Flora (played by Fiona). Joe is like your average Joe who has no goal in life, does not have a plan, and he picks up part time jobs as they come. He is stubborn and is quite lazy at home. But Joe is a good person with a good heart. And he loves Flora. Flora is an ambitious salesgirl who takes up night classes and works long hours for her career. Time and time again, she is fed up with Joe’s never changing character (and to be fair to Joe, his love to Flora is never changing as well). After the breakup, Joe has found a website that can break up other relationships so as to reunite his own. But will that change anything? Viewers have 104 minutes to find out.
I bought this Blu-ray almost one year ago when I was holidaying in Hong Kong. Today, “Break Up Club” is showing in Singapore as one of the programs for the Hong Kong Film Festival 2011. If you enjoy romance and drama, “Break Up Club” is not to be missed. I would strongly recommend watching this movie in its original Cantonese format, rather than being dubbed in Mandarin like many movies here in Singapore.