My Name is Fame

Strong lead from Lau Ching Wan help this movie from befalling into "just another Hong Kong comedic drama".

The premise of this movie is simple: Lau Ching Wan a middle age actor with plenty of acting talents, however he was never fully appreciated or liked in the film industry. Ching is basically going through his midlife crisis and begins to wonder if acting is what he really wants to do with the rest of his life.

The movie feels more like a satire to Lau Ching Wan's own film career because he has never won the Best Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards prior to this movie (This film gave him his first ever Best Actor award last April). Although he is never really liked or used in movies, his love for movies and acting is unquestionable on screen. Instead of making his character seem angry at everyone in the industry, Ching plays his role extremely well as more of a grumpy forty-year-old. The film also stars newcomer Hou Siyan, a rookie actress trying to make it big no matter what it took. The two begin a teacher-student relationship and soon lead to spontaneous romance. With Siyan's career starting to rise, it also sparks a renewed loved for Ching on his profession.

The film premise itself isn't very interesting or fresh, but the way it portrays the Hong Kong film industry should be appreciated because it shows how much actors, directors, and everyone else who is involved do and enjoy their work. The writing in the film is surprisingly witty and truthful; Siyan's performance does leave something more to desire, but Ching's performance is superb (Although I feel that his past performances in past movies were better). It should also be noted that the ending to this movie is awesome. One of the most memorable I've seen in a long time, this is what good endings should be like.

This is a good film to watch just for Ching's performance, especially for his first Best Actor Award.

Year: 2006
Director: Lau Kwok-Chen

8.2/10