Almost a decade after Jack Neo's "Money Not Enough", I am dumbfounded, or rather, disappointed that our local Filmmakers still stick to themes like "Toto Citizen", "Paper Chase", "5Cs", and "Chinese Funeral". Where our Government strives to be World No 1 in almost everything, they seem to have forgotten about doing the same for our film's industry. Or is it that we lack ideas, rather than "Money Not Enough"?
Singapore Dreaming, though may have earned the applause from local critics, does not impress me anymore. Just when I thought we have make a breakthrough with The Maid (Kudo to Kelvin Tong!), Singapore Dreaming is so typical, so predictable and again putting Singaporean to shame.
We urinate in our lifts. We tell our children that they would end up a road sweeper if they do not score 100 points in their tests. We are trying to act that we already "make it" by taking loan to purchase cars, and condos. We ill-treat the maid. Selling insurance is the worst occupation. Our language abilities are mixed bag!
The best (or rather worst!) part is that, we laugh at all these. The audience (mostly Singaporean) thought it is funny but don't we realise that over so many years, we are still not evolving into something different? I have de javu while watching it because it looks like those old days TCS drama, which my old mother faithfully follows every night. If there is anything to learn from the movie, it only tells me that our behaviour is not any different a decade ago, as a result, so are our movies.
Probably the only saving grace in this film is its casts, in particularly the veteran leads like Richard Low and Alice Lim. Their comic-timing are excellent and the most commendable aspect of the two is that they are equally capable pulling off moving scenes. Overall, I believe that our local actors and actresses could take on more sophisticated and challenging roles when called for. Unfortunately, the protagonists alone do not make a movie. Perhaps, it is time our Filmmakers wake up from their Singapore dreams and try something else.
Movie Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
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