Love Correction (2000)

Dotcom worker Emma (Chu) strikes a run of bad luck when she picks up a coin on a bus. The dollar was dropped by colleague Anson (Cheung) sitting further down the aisle and, according to a Finnish legend read over the bus radio, picking it up will bring good luck. She hops off the bus before the radio hosts say the good luck bit works only in Finland. It's the reverse in Asia.

Heading into the office, Emma tears her dress. Within three days she loses her man, sees her dog Wai Wai die, loses her job and attempts suicide. All is not lost though -- Anson heard the tail end of the radio hosts' discussion and knows all about the bad luck caused by the demonic coin. The solution, he tells Emma, is to peel an apple without a break at the stroke of midnight, reciting "Nothing has happened" over and over. The fruit trick works. Emma's sent back three days to the 9th of September (about when this film was made) and has second chances for everything at home, at work, and in love.

A running theme in Love Correction is not judging people and situations by outward appearances, and paying more attention to what's going on around you. Anson chooses not to speak of the good deeds he does in private. And Emma is blinkered to courtesy happening around her, such that a person helping a stranger on the street simply disappears from view. Nor is she able to see past her boss' businesslike sheen. Love Correction executive producer Lee Siu-kay gets a cameo as a concierge showing gentle charm hidden beneath a beefy exterior.

After director Mak's previous film The Blood Rules, this film comes as a dramatic step down. The former's interesting staging and group casting are notably absent and Love Correction's filmmaking technique is bland. Computer graphics for the coin demon look like they're taken from a laptop computer screen; stark contrast to the CGI apple peel later. The script mixes fantasy and reality for an intriguingly convoluted result. When one character laments that his dog was bathed to death, and when mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is performed on another dog, the distinction between overwrought melodrama and straight-faced lunacy is unclear. Having the two radio DJs spring up and sing all over town adds surprising silliness, though their speedy lyrics are unsubtitled for foreign viewers.

Nick Cheung starts of the production with a single-shot backgrounder spoken direct to the camera. It feels like filler but the sequence tells the audience from the outset not to expect his usual comic antics. It's pleasing to see him step back and present a more restrained character, even if the goofier antics reappear occasionally. Athena Chu is reasonable in the leading role but is completely outshone by lively co-star Monica Chan, who has her character set on high beam from start to finish.

The Love Correction printed billboard posted at Kwun Tong's Life Theatre

Credits:

Directed by Marco Mak
Produced by Daniel Lam
Starring Athena Chu Yan, Nick Cheung Ka-fai, Monica Chan Fat-yung, Kingdom Yuen King-tan, Emily Kwan Bo-wai, Amanda Lee, Tats Lau Yi-dat and Lee Siu-kay (cameo)