Rubbers, with its tagline as ‘Singapore’s
funniest sex comedy’ seemed somehow a very strange combination of words. A sex
comedy that was very much produced, written, directed and acted locally -
perhaps Singaporean society may no longer be as conservative as it once
was!
The film was absolutely unapologetic and
embraced its subject matter whole heartedly right from the in-your-face opening
track sequence! Kudos to director and writer Han Yew Kwang for his boldness in
style and commitment to his film. In fact on closer inspection, he was involved
in many aspects of the film beyond writing and directing to even acting,
editing and composing the soundtrack. This certainly resulted in a consistent
feel, look and vision.
The film stitches together three stories - Balloons about a
long suffering married couple played by Marcus Chin and Catherine Sng; Nightmare a
condom caught womanizer (Alaric Tay) and his imaginary AV star (Oon Shu Ann);
and The Plumber an unlucky in love single lady (Yeo Yann Yann) who
resorted to rather creative means to seduce a hunky plumber named Thor (Julian
Hee) - hammer and red towel included! - on Valentine's Day.
While the comedic moments did at times
heavily rely on visual and implied gags to work, there was certainly a good
balance between cringe worthy and heartfelt moments to engage the audience. In Balloons,
the rekindling of old romantic school crush love gave the characters a back
story for stronger emotional connection. Although serious issues such as
prostitution was glossed over. In Nightmare, most if not all comedic moments
were very much applied through atypical situations - the three attempts to get
to a hospital by his car, her bike or disguised as a lion dance troupe is just
one such example! The Plumber had the most zany array of situations
from her very creative range of seduction techniques, a full on argument with a
life sized condom packet to what must be one of the most romantic ways to
change a lightbulb!
Certainly an entertaining afternoon spent
in the cinema. Impressive was the fearlessness of the actors (Yeo Yann Yann,
Oon Shu Ann and Alaric Tay in particular) who had to execute some of the rather
intricate and carefully positioned shots. The casting was particularly well
done. Not only were main characters well portrayed, supporting actors with
cameo appearances all made significant contributions to the movie in their own
way. Yeo Yann Yann, already a well deserved household name, certainly did not
disappoint by displaying additional versatility here in a different more
playful role - nevertheless she imbued her character with a 3 dimensional
persona and grounding in what was otherwise a rather simple storyline. The
mutual trust of both director and actor was very evident especially when
executing some of the more creative moments of the script! Special
mention to both Alaric Tay and Oon Shu Ann for their delightful moments. Alaric
has always had a strong scene stealing ability and it was refreshing to watch
him in longer scenes here rather than usual cutaways. Building on a portfolio
of theatre work, Shu Ann's strong impersonation skills and performance
here was near taken for granted - fearless is the word that comes to mind.
With such strong casting and visual feel,
expectations were slowly raised throughout the film. Strangely however, one
left the cinema not quite fully satisfied as while it was an enjoyable and fun
afternoon there was a need for something more. Perhaps it comes down to the
strength of the underlying stories themselves. This was certainly a weakness in
the film. While individually each story was interesting, the sum of the parts
did not add up. Perhaps it was because they did not contain elements that were
particularly complex or new. At times there were constant reminders of
scenes from other movies - condoms as balloons, showering fully clothed and
even similarities to a memorable Selma Blair scene from The Sweetest Thing.
This immediately invoked comparisons. Additionally there was no strong connecting
thread between the stories other than the use of condoms as a theme.
In summary, while perhaps not the next
award winning film, it is still a little gem that provided many laughs on
a lazy afternoon.
Review by Ivan Choong
If you are keen, go behind the scenes of
'Rubbers' in our interview with Han Yew Kwang done earlier in the year here.