Irresistible Piggies, The

Rating: 5/10
Year: 2002
Genre: Comedy
Director: Lo Kim-Wah
Cast: Michelle Reis, Kelly Lin, Karen Mok, Suki Kwan, Stephen Fung, Jordan Chan, Raymond Wong, Alex To

Do you know what is "pork chop"? If not, you probably won't find The Irresistible Piggies funny in any aspect. Anyone who is not familiar with the trend of Hong Kong pop culture or who does not enjoy Hong Kong street humors should definitely stay away from this film.

The story features nothing new at all. It is just like any Wong Jing's comedy you have watched before. Sai Gwai (Raymond Wong) starts to work in an advertising company and immediately meets four ugly girls Mo (Michelle Reis), Mei (Karen Mok), Hung (Kelly Lin) and Pao (Suki Kwan) there. These four girls are poorly discriminated by their colleagues and are being laid off finally. Sai Gwai, having a crush on Mo, offers to help them with the assistance of Lun (Stephen Fung) and Spring (Jordan Chan). What I don't like most is the ending, which is loosely scripted and very illogical.

Piggie, which is better translated as "pork chop" in Cantonese, is a new slang originated in Hong Kong not long ago. Literally, it refers to ugly girls. If you see a girl who is very ugly in your eyes, you can say, "she is a pork chop." (But remember don't say it out in front of the "pork chop" or you will get into trouble for sure). If you don't find terms like "pork chop" funny, it is really hard to keep yourself engaged in the film, since most of the humors in this film are derived from these slangs and other local products of the pop culture.

Wong Jing is notoriously regarded as the master of trash cinema in Hong Kong, as a native Cantonese speaker who grew up there, I actually admire his vision (He is the producer of this film) as a film producer very much. He is really capable of forseeing the market and produces what the audience loves to see. He always knows the trend well and is smart enough to refurbish an overused story with fashionable elements to make it look new and suitable for contemporary audience. This film is another example. It has an exceedingly hackneyed plot, which is totally similar to Wong Jing's comedies in the 1980s (e.g. The Romancing Stars series). But Wong Jing is able to rejunvenate it by adding all these trendy slangs and incoporating the story with the present social situation in Hong Kong, that it succeeds in bringing audience resonance. In short, it is a local comedy perfectly made for local people.

This film is not welcome by some critics in Hong Kong because the premise seems to be morally wrong. The story suggests that the only way for ugly girls to get through is plastic surgery. Inner beauty is not valued at all. All that matter is a pretty face. If you are gorgeous and attractive, you will succeed. Moreover, ugly girls are always severely discriminated and humiliated. Yes, to a certain extent, it is hard to accept such a premise, but this is reality! Reality is just harsh. This film merely reflects what is happening in Hong Kong right now, it is a very genuine representation of this malformed society. For the humiliated image of ugly girls, think about the theory of supply and demand, instead of blaming the filmmakers, why don't the viewers try to introspect? The filmmakers simply produce what the viewers want to see. If no one wants to see such dirty jokes, do you think the filmmakers would bother making such film?

In terms of the actors, the four "pork chops" are all awesome, especially Michelle Reis, I really couldn't believe she would accept this job. Her bald head is impressive and exceptionally farcical. It is good to see that Kelly Lin's voice does not need to be dubbed anymore, her Cantonese has improved a lot. Among the male characters, Jordan Chan stands out as a gay graphic designer despite the heavy focus on the four "pork chops".

It is a no-brainer comedy which has no depth of meaning at all. If your only objective is to have a big laugh with some friends, you'll probably enjoy it, providing that you have knowledge of Hong Kong street humors and pop culture.

VCD (HK version) - The sound quality sucks, similar to the VCD of Visible Secret 2, it is very hard to catch some of the dialogues since the volume is very unstable, it turns up and down intermittently for no reason.

Cool guy(s) - Michelle Reis, Jordan Chan

Reviewed by: Kantorates