Truth! (After all, it is pretty impractical for me do a dare over this interweb thing – well at least a decent one)
So did I enjoy this one? You betcha. If nothing else it was a breath of fresh air from the romantic comedies out of HK that I have been blessed with seeing recently. But it’s not just purely situational that makes me recommend this film. After all, you have to appreciate such a star vehicle that incorporates the latest and greatest celebrities that HK has to offer and a movie like this just proves that maybe there is some substance to their celebrity status.
The thing that strikes you almost immediately is the energy the runs through the movie. Which is really odd when you consider the movie starts on such a sombre note with a rather despondant rap full of angst and despair – but then introduces the cast and the movie in one of the many parties in the apartment. It’s this balance between naive hope and energy and harsh reality that not only keeps you smiling through most of the movie but still provides some intelligence to the script. Being made in the midst of SARS not to mention the current era of economic uncertainty, you can understand the sentiments the director’s trying to encourage (in fact the one SARS reference in the entire movie is very cool) and something I related to very easily and were themes I appreciated.
The cast, as I mentioned before, is made up of HK’s latest and greatest and, to avoid confusion, they all took up their own first names for their characters (star vehicle, you say?). Being the hack that I am, obviously I only knew one or two of them and didn’t really appreciate the subtle cameos that littered the film (of which CY was more than happy to inform me of). Still the central cast, like the film itself, encourages me that perhaps with talent like this, the Hong Kong industry still has hope of producing some damn fine cinema. There’s just a certain exubrance you get from casting the latest and greatest of Hong Kong’s young celebraties that just makes you young again…
Wait a second! I’m not that old!?! Dammit! I’ve wasted my youth haven’t I? I mean, honestly, where can one find people like these who have a party every other day – and good one’s at that.
Well anyway. I suppose, if nothing else, Truth or Dare is a great piece of fiction and/or ideal to live up to. While it has the energy and excitement of youth, it also has the disappointments and harshness of growing up such that while you may know it’s fiction, it does give you the hope that helps keep those darker moments of the soul away.