Help!!! (2000)

Medical shenanigans form the basis of Help!!!, a fast-moving look into the ludicrous affairs at the ficticious Sir Ho Kau Kei Charity Hospital. From the surgeons to the toilet cleaners, the staff can't care any less about their work, let alone saving lives. It takes three tireless medics - Jim (Jordan Chan), San (Cecilia Cheung) and Joe (Ekin Cheng) - to selflessly fix up the hospital. Their task is almost insurmountable, all the time going against orders from the sinister Highest Management to keep standards appallingly low, and staff who are happy with the care-free status quo.

This main gist is simple enough, and it holds the bulk of the humour, the more frenetic filming and, dare I say, advocacy elements. Added to the mix are stories following the three leads' personal lives, each fleshing out the production to lesser degrees. Joe had ditched his job at the hospital, choosing to become a mechanic instead before returning to medicine. Jim had previously traded in his GTR sports car and trendy hairdo for a Volvo and moptop, and had lost interest in his profession. And San had become a doctor because she was so impressed by a line spoken by a surgeon during an appendectomy at age 14. She knows it was either Joe or Jim who said it. And when she finds out which one it was, she'll marry him.

Frankly, I couldn't care less for the latter weak plot element. Nor, in fact, did I particularly care for any of the three top billed stars, since there's not enough offered for viewers to cling to in the script and the brevity of the film. I found Cecilia Cheung's San character particularly unpleasant, as demonstrated in her unkind treatment of a beggar. There's plenty at fault in Help!!!. But I concede to enjoying the film on the first, and second, viewing.

The main plot is thin, situation comedy and it clicks nicely within the frantic pace akin to Wai Ka-fai's wonderful earlier work Too Many Ways To Be Number 1 and the limited 88-minute span. Gags come fast and are amusing in their farcical ways, easily holding up the second time round. This is not always ideal - the humour can seem misplaced by its sheer tastelessness at times, and it removes the tension from one climax - but there's still plenty to enjoy throughout. Hui Shiu-hung and Lam Suet make a terrific duo throughout the film are easily the finest members of the cast in their polished comic pairing. They, along with the rest of the cast, follow an acting style throughout that is often reminiscent of a stage production, with facial expressions and overall body gestures evoking that charm. The production itself is a good-looker highlighted indoors by a nice set - actually the new Hong Kong Academy of Medicine building - and outdoors by Bruce Law's terrific smash-up with a score of cars and a couple of buses.

The film ends with a series of text passages across the screen telling viewers that nobody was hurt in filming, and whatnot. One line in particular says: "Life matters. Do not model yourself after the characters in this film." After hints given throughout Help!!!, this seemed to confirm a community angle resting in the film, and it became more apparent on viewing number two. I like to think this isn't a note for prospective medical students seeking role models, but instead part of what appear to be community ideals in Help!!!'s nifty Hong Kong caricature. Whether intentional or not, the hospital aspect advocates working together, pride in participation, common courtesy and just making an unselfish effort for others, as demonstrated through and through by the leads' actions and supports' gradual appreciation.

Help!!! painted billboard on the side of the Ritz Theatre at San Po Kong, Kowloon.

Credits:

Directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai
Script by Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi and Ben Wong
Starring Jordan Chan, Cecilia Cheung, Ekin Cheng, Lam Suet, Hui Shiu-hung and Raymond Wong