This is a movie about the story of a Singapore girl, Nala, becoming a Tai Tai living the high life and then going back to take over her mum’s legacy to be a hawker and finding what really matters to her. The journey to becoming Tai Tai only took up a few minutes at the start, then it was a ride from the jaded housewife to the penniless divorcee and then a determined cook trying to revive a dying legacy and defending her heritage, finishing with a competition between an esteemed chef and the hawkers.
Along the way, Nala’s bubbly daughter was behind her all the way, with a “I’m not sure what I can do to help, but I still do whatever I can to help” funny sidekick and a crazy, but sage-like-at-times mummy to boost the lineup. Of course, this movie about hawkers will only feel completed with a Malay Ah Bang Satay hawker, Indian Roti hawker and a Zi Char uncle.
The movie is really an enjoyable watch, being fast-paced, peppered with some funny moments and sincere in delivery. There is no dull moment as the plot progresses steadily and vibrantly to the highlight of the competition. The relatively huge cast characters are very well-defined and memorable, in part due to their personality profiling by Enneagram. Yes, director Kelvin Sng produced this movie based on Enneagram profiling. Of course, the great cast who nailed their roles very well are the main force to make this possible. More on this later.
The shots of the preparation of food are gorgeous, heightening the appreciation of the food featured. The slow-mo, the focus on the kinetics, the lightning and the chefs’ intense concentration amped up the drama. Foodies and food lovers should see this movie just to enjoy these parts.
Besides food, other relatable ingredients incorporated into the movie are technology, namely social media and apps, and of course, a hawker centre and a very old-school one in an old neighborhood at that. So there is this interesting clash between the new and the old. At the same time, both can merge seamlessly if both sides embrace each other, as shown in the movie.
Now on the detailed details that you may not need to know but I still want to write about:
The cast for this movie is a very strong one. One of the main cast highlights for me is Gini Chang, who actually managed to really portray well the effervescent, lovable daughter of Dawn Yeoh. Now, noted that Dawn Yeoh is elegant, gorgeous and actually looks young, so it is difficult for a non-child actress to act as a daughter to her. So I’m impressed that Gini could pull this off. Her bubbly personality in the show is evident, and screen is immediately filled of sparks and energy whenever she is onscreen. I had caught glimpses of her performance in some TV series, and I have to say that she really shines in this movie as compared to her previous works.
On the retrospect, Dawn also pulled off the role of the willowy, jaded, “I had seen it all” wife very well in order for this mother-daughter duo to look convincing. She switched effectively from the impulsive, rebellious girl to the proper and classy yet miserable housewife and then to the hopeful though cautious divorcee who wanted to achieve her goals. As the main character, she could really carry the whole show well. In fact, she has aged well since I had last caught glimpses of her in shows many years ago. Now she brings on the extra maturity, confidence and poise to her acting.
Ryan Lian, as the main deliverer of punchlines, really delivers on this area. The way he emphasized certain words with measured amount of strength, plus the “I say this surely, confidently but impulsively” look really makes the audience immediately catch the jokes and laugh. His boyish, somewhat blur demeanor in the movie also makes him a relatable, likable sidekick to Nala. I can feel and like the “best working partner” vibe between these two characters. Though it does look like the movie is also hinting at the possible romantic relationship between the two. I definitely applaud at the prospect of older lady, younger guy couple, which breaks the conventional thinking. But the two lack that intense passion between each other for me to want to ship them together. Then again, I feel the level of chemistry they have with each other in this movie is what makes the movie coherent and brings the focus onto the hawker life and food instead. Too much romance will upset this slice-of-hawker’s-life dynamic instead. So in short, the chemistry between the two was controlled just right, but I have no idea why the hint of romance was even brought into the plot.
Kimson Tan is like the stud of the show lol His acting and delivery of lines are a bit raw, but the goofy personality and accent of his character makes him very likable. Now, I do ship him and Gini’s character together since they made such cute couple due to the playful, fun vibe they radiated when with each other in the show.
Kimson’s grandfather, played by veteran actor Hugo Ng, was the egotistical and tyrannical Zi Char uncle, but had his heart in the right place. Fireworks fly about whenever he appears on screen. He is like a core ingredient to make this movie come alive. I don’t need to go into detail about his acting, which is top notch. That is kind of expected, right? The same goes for Mimi Chu, who appeared in few scenes, but sizzled in the show nonetheless.
Asher Su played the long-suffering son enduring years of the insults and violent outbursts of Hugo’s character. It is interesting to see a big-sized man playing that gentle giant. There are moments where audience will silently tell him to fight back against the tyrant. Definitely a character to empathize with. Though the maniacal laughter is a bit too much.
Liu Ling Ling, playing as the crazy mother of Nala, went the opposite direction from the rest of the cast in terms of acting style. Her acting was very flamboyant and exaggerated, but somehow this oddity is one of the highlights of the movie, making it fun and joyous.
The quality of production, for majority of the parts, is high. The music, makeup and wardrobe are so on the point. The main things that get to me are manicured nails, memory flashbacks, the audience area at the venue during competition, contradictory nature of the primary antagonist and the hugging scene.
Wearing manicured nails while preparing food has always been one of my biggest beef. I will close the cooking video in disgust whenever I see long, coloured nails on the hands that prepare or serve the food. So when this movie shows those beautiful long nails when doing close-up of preparing food, I was like, “Why? No decent chef will have that kind of nails!”
The memory flashbacks have this nice blur effect to distinguish them as flashbacks. And this scene à la Ratatouille memory flashback is so funny. But I find the black plain background to be too dull.
The stage of competition looks impressive but the audience area kind of feels like the organizers of the competition are cutting costs. It just feels like there are very few people there. Good thing they show people watching the competition online to indicate that lots of people were invested in the competition.
The primary antagonist, played by Moses Cheng, had the fierce, regal, arrogant and determined look that said, “I’m the champion who will triumph over all!” He definitely played this part very well. And initially, he looked like a character with personality and struggles. But towards the end of the competition, he suddenly turned into someone else, to be like a cardboard villain.
Lastly, there was a hugging scene, which meant to incite laughter, but there was none in the theater at that point in time. There is something off about pacing or angle of shooting resulting in the audience not catching that moment.
Actually, I’m nitpicking here since as a Type 5, I tend to go into the details. With exception of manicured nails thingy, the other issues I mentioned will hardly make a dent in the enjoyment of the movie.
All in all, I highly recommend this movie.
