“Missbehavior” Behaves for Friendship

Release Date：Feb/1/2019
Genre：Comedy
Director：Ho-Cheung Pang
Cast：Gigi Leung、Isabella Leong、Miriam Yeung、Yam-yam Siu、Dada Chan 

Viola's Rating：6.1







Not many Asian produced feature films are released in the US, but with a bunch of Hong Kong residents, Director Ho-Cheung Pang’s latest film “Missbehavior” not only was released in the US on Feb 1, 2019, but also attracted Hollywood producer’s interest to make an American version.

Since Lunar New Year film is considered a Hong Kong institution, this comedy was released in Hong Kong before Lunar New Year, trying to earn more box office. The storyline is about six women and two men who often chat with each other in their mobile group chat, "Pat Poh". However, their friendship starts to become tense when different conflicts arise between them, such as Inspector May finding out that Isabel had an affair with her boyfriend, and internet celebrity Rosalin publishing a book containing everyone's love secrets. They eventually abandon the group and never talk to each other anymore, but one day, when June gets into trouble and reaches out in the group, everyone gathers together again to help her, putting their grudges aside for the moment. When everyone's long-suppressed complaints and problems break loose, the group of friends find themselves trying to save not only June but their long gone friendship.

Although a comedy it is, “Missbehavior” still provides touching elements which focus on the eight main characters’ friendship, and through their different conditions, depicts diverse troubles friends might face, and how can they solve them together and restore their friendship.

Like all other Lunar New Year films, “Missbehavior” invited a host of A-listed actors and actresses to grace the flick, especially the 42-year-old leading actress, Gigi Leung. As an Inspector in the motion picture, Gigi is very strict and shows her determination and power while carrying out her duty, but at the same time, she’s so attractive as if she’s at least 15 years younger. Even though there’s not much space to present her acting skills, her charisma still spreads through the big screen and adds more spice into the comedy.

Besides friendship between sisterhoods, there are two men in the chat group. Whether they are some of the group members’ boyfriend or they are “sisters” with all of them plays a critical role in the movie. In addition to discussing about love itself, misunderstanding that might occur during a relationship is also brought up, providing the audience some food for thought.

It’s obvious that it’s a Lunar New Year film from the Mandarin title, but entering into the US market, the translation “Missbehavior” purely conveys the funny part of it, giving the picture more chances to be picked in the US. Although it’s not a feature film that contains deep message, it at least is one that produces much laughter in the theater.

Picture Credit: atmovies