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Homerun
(PG)
(opens Aug 7) Starring : A Shoeless Homerun
When you hit 3 strikes in a baseball game, you’re out. But Jack Neo has made his 4th strike with Homerun after 3 previous hits (Liang Po Po: The Movie, Money No Enough, I Not Stupid) and yet, he’s still very much in the game. Homerun, a remake of the internationally-acclaimed Iranian movie Children of Heaven (nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1999 Academy Awards), is one movie that will tug the heartstrings of every moviegoer, even if one doesn’t understand the nuances of Mandarin. Credibly enough, Jack Neo’s version maintains
the theme of the Iranian version, with essentially the same plot. Poverty
and love, after all, are universal. But Jack goes beyond that to infuse
several sub-plots that also added a dash of spice into the movie. Unfortunately,
his intentional or unintentional jibes at the Malaysia-Singapore water
crisis have not gone down well with some of the audience, the scene
where the kids bicker over the right to use well water being a scrutinised
one. Instead of baseball bats and pitches, what you get is 11-year-old Kun (Shawn Lee), who loses his younger sister Seow Fang’s (Megan Zheng) only pair of shoes when he’s out on an errand. With a pregnant mother (Xiang Yun) who can’t work and a father (Huang Wen Yong) whose numerous odd jobs still hardly put food on the table, getting a new pair is definitely out of the question. In desperation, the siblings then decide to share Kun’s pair of shoes to get to school. The trouble begins when Seow Fang can hardly wear Kun’s larger pair of shoes and is unable to reach home in time for her brother to get to school.
Set in pre-independence and backward Singapore, the cinematography of the 60s movie is convincing and nostalgic, playing as it does with quaint images of dark streets, kampungs [Malay for village] and muddy school fields. An outstanding performance by newcomer Megan Zheng overshadows her peers and seasoned child actors like Shawn Lee and Joshua Ang, both of whom were featured in Jack Neo’s previous hit, I Not Stupid. Quite the opposite of the movie’s premise, she fills the shoes of Shawn – who won the Young Talent Award at the Star Awards 2002 – quite well in fact. She emotes and cries with natural ease, suggesting a Zoe Tay in the making. When her pearly drops fall, especially in the scene where she tries to explain to her exasperated teacher (Sharon Au ) why she’s wearing an oversized pair of shoes, you’ll find yourself reaching for the tissues. Familiar TV faces like Sharon Au and motor-mouth Liu Qian Yi (the unforgettable bah kwa [barbecued pork slices] businessman in I Not Stupid as well) also appear in the movie. Chinese pop phenomenon Emil Chau adds to the star quotient with a cameo appearance as a police officer. As the veteran actors put on engaging performances, the child actors are equal to the task. They manage to combine humour along with the somberity of the various conflicts in the movie. In short, they know how to laugh and cry at the same time. Slip into your own shoes and get moving. This is one movie that doesn’t have the slightest chance of having any strikeouts or even a missed step. Rating: |
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