Hey gang, Valkor here. Tom Hank’s movie “Big” ranks high as one
of my favorite, greatest films of all time. If you don’t know,
it’s about a young boy who wishes he were older and that wish
is granted through the magic of a fortune telling machine. Sure
being older has its perks, but it also teaches us to appreciate
our youth, because once it’s gone – it’s gone. And those moments
of your life, you can never get back (of course he does go back
to being a kid). What does this have to do with this next film,
which comes all the way from Hong Kong? Well in “Delete My Love”,
the main character doesn’t truly appreciate what he has… until
it’s suddenly gone. Check it out, but be wary – major spoilers
ahead!
Delete My Love, is something of a comedy/romantic comedy centering on a guy named So Boring (Cho-Lam Wong), who's not having the best of days. He gets picked on by his coworkers, his great idea is stolen, his boss doesn’t appreciate him, his girlfriend is a hypochondriac, and his mother and sister, who have issues all their own, attempt to extort him for money by pretending to be roughed up by gang members. The next day doesn’t get any better as he has to face his boss, whom at first it would appear things were getting rather… risqué, but as it turns out he’s actually getting canned – on his birthday! And just before they exit, Boring accidently kills his boss and now he’s really up shit’s creek without a paddle. He attempts to hide the body and in doing so he wishes he could just have a "nice boss". When he heads for his office to face the music, voila! A new boss appears, who looks a lot like a young Alec Baldwin, who also treats everyone with free days off and anything else money can buy. Talk about nice! But what happened to old boss?
The big question is: how did all this happen? Before So Boring faced old boss, he gets a text message, kinda like a spam type message that asks if he wants to delete a person from his life. And he does, changing them into people he deems “nice” starting with his boss, moving on to his co-worker, his girlfriend’s suitor and even his best friend (Who he turns into a Tony Stark look-alike). While the changes are better, ultimately they’re not the best as something isn’t right about the new personas such as the fatty coworker who is turned into a hottie babe… with a stutter. His Best friend, whom he now calls Iron man… is in love with him. He even changes his mom into a woman that constantly feeds him. But the costliest, greatest sacrifice of them all is his girlfriend Bo (Ivana Wong), whom he wishes she were hotter and sultrier… was actually having his baby just before the change. And now he stands to lose it all unless he can find a way to change it all back.
Delete My Lover is not exactly “Big”, but it does teach you that you should never try to make sudden changes like that in your life, because you never know what you’ll end up with; in Big, Josh gave up his childhood just to be an adult, missing out on a huge chunk of his life. Here So Boring almost loses a family just because he wants the people around him to be "nicer". I also feel the name is sort of offsetting, since no one is actually “deleted”, more like changed. So why not call the film “Switched” or “Changed for the better… or Worse”, something along those lines?
The Good:
Delete My Love (also known as Delete Lovers), definitely ranks as one of the best comedies I’ve watched this year that's packed with a lot ofheart. The film is loaded with visual, cheesy, over the top slapstick style humor that’s very well balanced and will leave you in stitches; one scene in particular that had me on the floor was when Boring’s friend “Captain Cool” who also calls himself "Andy Lau" (after the famous HK actor) tries to magically change small money to a larger denomination, only to see it go lower and lower. The funny part is that as the amount shrinks, Boring gets kissed by this dude/woman, which gets deeper and longer as the amount shrinks… woof! But the laughs don’t stop until about the last 30 minutes or so as it takes on a more serious, dramatic tone when Boring attempts to get his old life back. Still there are some laughs, just not as much as at the beginning. The acting is what really sells the film and I think everyone puts their performance A-game on the table. But I gotta give it up to Cho-Lam Wong who plays the part of So Boring to perfection – the dude is just too funny. But even funnier is “Old Boss” Michael Hui, who thankfully (spoiler) doesn’t stay dead. And his choice at the end was a nice finisher for the film. Finally cutie props go out to Ivana Wong who sells it as the ever sickly Bo. I love her, I think she’s adorable… and I wouldn’t mind drinking soup with a little bit of her urine. What? What I say? Anywho, I had a blast with Delete My Lover; it’s the most fun, most entertaining film I’ve watched this year.
The Bad:
There’s not much I could say against the film really; the title still bothers me somewhat, though it’s not a big issue. Going in, I thought the film would play along the lines of social media such as facebook or twitter (if you delete them on facebook they’re gone forever). But that’s not exactly the case. Still, it's no big deal.
The Ugly:
That kiss from that dude/woman. Poor Boring.
Delete My Love is available now but you’ll have to do a little importing to get your hands on a copy. If you’re used to watching foreign films, then this is one film worth checking out. It has loads of laughs, lots of charm and oh so entertaining. I highly recommend it. So, out of TOV 5 stars Delete My Love gets a 4.5.
