While "My Wife is 18" (aka "Ngo liu poh lut gau ching") is a very generic movie in the romantic comedy genre, then it still turned out to be entertaining and watchable.
The story is about 30 year old Sip-Sam Cheung (played by Ekin Cheng) who is a long time student trying to get his degree. Upon the wish of his aging grand mother he marries Yoyo Ma (played by Charlene Choi), an 18 year old college girl. And when Cheung starts to work as a psychology teacher at Yoyo's school, things really take a turn for the hilarious.
Right, well all the core essentials were used for this particular Hong Kong romantic comedy at the hands of director James Yuen, so you know exactly what kind of movie you are in for here. As such, then "My Wife is 18" offers nothing new or innovative to the romantic comedy genre.
They had managed to put together a good cast ensemble though, with seasoned actor Ekin Cheng opposite the Young singer/actress Charlene Choi. They do have good on-screen chemistry. It was also really nice to see Richard Ng (playing the professor) in the movie, just a shame that he only had such a small role. Bernice Liu (playing Miss Lee) was also doing a good job, and I wished that they had given her a bigger role and more screen time because she really was well-cast for her role.
"My Wife is 18" is a charming movie because of its storyline, but with that in mind, then it is also a very generic movie for its genre. If you enjoy romantic comedies, then "My Wife is 18" is a good choice for a movie to watch. But if you are getting an introduction to the Hong Kong cinema, then it is hardly the best of choices.
I wasn't familiar with the fact that this 2002 movie was followed up by a sequel in 2012, until I happened to come across that by sheer random luck here on IMDb.
I am rating "My Wife is 18" six out of ten stars given the storyline and the acting performances. And also because there are some fairly good laughs here and there throughout the movie.
