La Brassiere

It's about a bra company that decides to hire a couple of men to gain a new perspective over an all-female work force. The men are fish out of water and it's just a cute comedy. It's worth watching. ...

`La Brassiere' is a romantic comedy made in Hong-Kong. It was so popular after the release that it went on to become a franchised series including `Mighty Baby' and `Driving Miss Wealthy.' Well, I said `romantic comedy,' but `La Brassiere` does not exactly provide the Hollywood-type humor. It is more direct and crude, and if you remember `What Women Want' and its most unsophisticated sequence -- Mel Gibson using hair-removing cream, you can imagine what you will see in most of the `comical' scenes of the film.

The film does not attempt to hide its obvious inspiration. A lingerie company (of which employees are all women) breaks its tradition, and hires two males Johnny (Ching Wan Lau) and Wayne (Louis Koo). They have to design a perfect bra within three months, but J & W (as their names indicate) are too `macho' and male-centered to understand the needs of the marketplace, or `What Women Wants.'

These males with misguided ideas about women - though one of them is a handsome womanizer and the other has a girlfriend - completely fail to understand the women's heart until they fall for female office workers of the same company, Samantha (Carina Lau) and Lena (Gigi Leung). These guys come to understand women not by supernatural power, but by just falling in love. No listening to women's inner voices here.

While the romantic story of `La Brassiere' is driven forward to the inevitable ending by formulaic episodes, it also gives some comic moments during the course. Some of the viewers might find the film's gags too gross and childish because they include such scenes as Johnny prowling naked in the office (don't ask why), or Johnny and Wayne trying to wear the bra in the proper way (with artificial breast in it) in front of advising Lena and all the co-workers. You find these scenes either hilarious or downright embarrassing, and probably it depends on your mood of the day.

`La Brassiere' has some cameo appearances from Karen Mok and Patrick Tam, but the film's strongest point is the good acting from Ching Wan Lau, who makes the character of Johnny an amiable one. Unfortunately not amiable enough for us to forget the negative sides of these two males, and I don't believe a girl as sweet as Lena would fall in love with a womanizing man like Wayne. And very cute Gigi Leung should be one of the merits of the film, but the film sadly fails to use her charms to the full.

After all `La Brassiere' is a typical case of comedy of which quality is decided by its directness of the gags. You see lots of women in underwear but no social commentary on gender or business, not even a cursory one. Actors just do or say silly things, and we laugh. It is simple as that. I liked it for that, but you may hate it for exactly the same reason.

This is a very funny movie which brings out the acting ability of it's star Lau Chin Wan. Previously I was familiar with him potraying only the cool and deadly cop image but this was a pleasant surprise.. The story tells of a company who wanted to create the ultimate bra. They felt that only a man could offer advice in this area as he stands to benefit the most from this creation. To this end they hired two men as consultants then love stepped in and all hell broke loose.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  3.4 out of 5 stars