She Starts the Fire

cover

AKA: She Starts Fire

Year of release: 1992

Genre: comedy

Director: Lawrence Cheng

Action director: Sherman Wong

Producers: Wong Jing, Gordon Chan

Writers: Wong Jing, Gordon Chan

Cinematography: Jingle Ma

Editor: Chan Kei-Hop

Music: Chan Fei-Lit

Stars: Chingmy Yau, Lawrence Cheng, Deannie Yip, Carol Cheng, Paul Chu Kong, Michael Lai, Manfred Wong, Peter Lai, John Ching, Vindy Chan, Kingdom Yuen, Lee Siu-Kei, Damian Lau

Rated IIB for language

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I will grant that Cantonese comedies are an acquired taste, and that She Starts the Fire does seem to have its' share of fans, but, honestly, this is far and away one of the worst movies I've had the displeasure of sitting through in recent memory.

The plot revolves around Wendy (played by the lovely Chingmy Yau), a girl whose psychokinetic powers have proven to be such a plague on her family that she's reduced to living with her aunt Big Beer (Deannie Yip), a PR host (aka hooker) who is on her last legs financially.

Along with her landlord's (Lawrence Cheng) money-grubbing girlfriend (Carol Cheng), Beer hatches a plan to use Wendy's abilities to make a lot of cash, via a popular TV show and the gullibility of rich women in Hong Kong.

Long-time readers of this site know the love I have of both Chingmy Yau and Wong Jing, but even with both their talents present, She Starts the Fire just ends up being a really lousy movie.

The acting present here is simply horrible; Deannie Yip in particular makes the viewer want to strangle her as she seems to want to yell and over-act every line she utters. Most of the other actors don't fare any better. Carol Cheng seems to be almost kicking herself in the head for doing jokes about the droopiness of her breasts.

"Comedy" like that thrown at the viewer doesn't help things move along in any shape or form. I'm not adverse to toilet humor -- in fact, I find it extremely hilarious if it's used the right way. But stuff like "humorous" attempts at making things like dog-cooking and urine-drinking funny just came across as insulting.

Yes, I will give She Starts the Fire a couple of points for the eye candy of Chingmy Yau, especially during the final reel, where she sports some hot pants that leave very little to the imagination. But, just like I'd imagine you'd to be, she seems at once totally bored and repulsed by the proceedings.

RATING: 3