Cek Toko Sebelah is a film written and directed by a talented young comedian, Ernest Prakasa. It tells us a story of a Chinese family and their problems in life, ranging from work-related problems, romance, inheritance, and jealousy. Centered on Ernest as the main actor himself, the story bring about a nice familial atmosphere and well-presented the interaction between various cultures and kinds of people in Indonesia. As the comedian's second movie, it was being widely accepted by the audience and received many good responses from them, although there are some minor problems that we need to look up into.
My own first impression when I watch this movie is, honestly, quite bad. The jokes are quite lame, and the movie seems like a boring one with too much jokes in it. However, as the story progresses, it's getting better and better. The delivery of the plots is well-executed and the emotion in it is being build up perfectly for the audience. Oh, and the jokes are getting better too!
Now, when we see the actors and actresses line up, we would be surprised to see quite a few well-known names such as Dion Wiyoko (Yohan), Adinia Wirasti (Ayu), Gisella Anastasia (Natalie), and various other famed names. Sadly, however, most of them lacked the expected screen time befitting of their popularity. The background of each main characters is also quite lacking in our opinion, making the audience failed to relate the story to an even deeper level. Well, allocating a proper screen time for each plot is hard, with the need of jokes and all in a comedy films especially, so the present condition is quite well done.
Overall, it is a good movie, and I recommend you to watch it. Why? Well, it is quite rare for an Indonesian comedy film to get this deep of a plot, especially in the recent times. Not sure? You will know when you watch the movie yourself. Prove it. Prove my words, watch the movie.
