Tagline: A pure eye-candy coated flick
Review by Neo: It's not long ago that Mainland comedies are just totally inaccessible. A prime example is Karmic Mahjong, where despite Francis Ng's best effort; the film was unbearable, unfunny and totally irrelevant. Perhaps its about to change, as in 2008 Mainland Cinema, there is not one, but two above average mainland comedies, namely Two Stupid Eggs and the current flick, Call For Love. While, the aforementioned flick used black humor and frequent self-referential techniques and polished by some good acting from leading man Guo Tao, Call For Love goes the route that would cause even the most resistant of male to nose bleed. With 9-10 hot chicks each appearing no longer than in a 10 minute segment, what makes Call For Love a bias selection for Neo is clearly the candy swamping within his eyes. Imagine a mobile phone that looks like Flintstone have the power of giving you 10 chances with 10 different hot chicks. Sounds like utopia, and without forgetting Fan Bing Bing is one of them as well. Just thinking about this leaves the current reviewer drooling and possibly leaving half the site's population in the same mood.
In what is possibly the biggest juxtaposition is the casting of Xu Zheng, a mid-age, non-handsome guy as being the centre of the 10 female attentions. In an unintended allusion to Beauty and the Beast, the movie actually works because of casting a normal looking guy, rather than some top shot, six pack models. In fact, pairing up Xu with hot chicks, adds layers to the fun and luckily this guy can act. Like Two Stupid Eggs, Xu is constantly talking to himself and the self-referential humour is once again appreciated by the audience. More interestingly as the movie goes on, the audience seems to side with Xu and even wants him to get some sort of action.
Without forgetting, Eva Huang from Kung Fu Hustle's fame appears in a scene stealing wild girl. Huang seems to be heading the wrong direction after an eye catching shot to stardom in one of HK's biggest movies in the past decade, but since then she have been reduced to non-existent roles like Dragon Squad and Lethal Ninja. Although it is only for 10 minutes, this is perhaps her most juicy role since Hustle and her performance is hilarious enough to catch the audience attention. Another famous mainlander comes in the form of Neo's favourite muse, Fan Bing Bing. Fan is as hot as always and her 7 minutes of fame is filled with coated levels of eye candy, even if her performance is nothing special. Still, Fan as seen in Lost in Beijing can definitely act and the short stint here is heaps better than the annoying Love Contract. Then again, who can resist Fan in police uniform? Cal For Love isn't exactly an all out good movie, but rather what Neo classify as a good Mainland comedy that is actually funny and enjoyable. Sometimes, it is a pleasure to sit through mindless entertainment and luckily Call for Love manages to entertain, have some sort of meaning of love to it as well as plenty of the all important eye candies. Movies like these can easily flatters, but luckily the director handles his shots with a certain form of comedic timing. Along with some good acting chops from leading man Xu, a scene stealing moment with Eva Huang and the irresistible Fan Bing Bing, Call For Love isn't half bad and clearly what one can claim as pure guilty pleasure. Then again, with 10 deliciously candy coated ice cream cones, Neo's eyes certainly aren't complaining
(Neo 2008)
I rate it 7/10
