Money No Enough
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| Money No Enough | |
|---|---|
 VCD cover. |
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| Directed by | Tay Teck Lock |
| Produced by | J.P. Tan |
| Written by | Jack Neo |
| Starring | Jack Neo, Mark Lee, Henry Thia |
| Cinematography | Kamis |
| Editing by | A. Supranamian |
| Distributed by | Shaw Organisation[1] |
| Release date(s) | 7 May 1998 |
| Language | Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Money No Enough (Chinese: 钱不够用; pinyin: qián bù gòu yòng) is a Singaporean film written by Jack Neo, directed by Tay Teck Lock and produced by JSP International. It stars Jack Neo, Mark Lee and Henry Thia.
Released in cinemas on 7 May 1998[2] in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, Money No Enough earned over S$5.8 million and remains Singapore's all-time highest-grossing film. The Singaporean film industry experienced a revival following the success of the film, and it spawned two "copycats".
The 10th year commemorative screening of Money No Enough was held on 28 April 2008 at GV VivoCity. To mark the occasion, the film was digitally re-mastered and screened from a DVD player. Prior to the screening, Jack Neo donated a film storage container holding the original reel of Money No Enough to the Asian Film Archive for preservation.
The film is about three friends with various financial struggles, who start a car polishing business together.
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[edit] Plot
The three main characters are Chew Wah Keong (Jack Neo), who is a white-collar worker, but a spendthrift; Ong (Mark Lee), a contractor; and Hui (Henry Thia), who is a coffee shop waiter, and has a crush on one of his customers, Susan.
Keong quits his job after an argument with his boss over a promotion. He is unable to get a new job, due to his lack of academic qualifications and computer illiteracy. With installments and bills to pay, with a family to support, Keong lands heavily in debt. His wife, who dislikes his spending habits, leaves him, taking their daughter (Inex Goh) with her.
Ong borrows S$40,000 from a loan shark, confident that he can clear his debt quickly, as he is about to settle a debt his friend owes him. However, Ong's friend runs away, and Ong, unable to repay the debt within the two-week deadline, gets beaten up by the loan sharks. Ong then runs away to Johor Bahru to hide from the loan sharks and settle his friend's debt.
When Hui attempts to woo Susan , JoJo (Patricia Mok) asks him for his mobile phone number. As Hui did not own a mobile phone, he started shopping for one, but instead of the latest model, he ends up buying a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, mistakenly hearing from Ong the bigger the phone, the better it is. He once went for prostitution in Geylang, but backed out at the last minute when the prostitute arrived. Hui also went out on a date with Susan, but found out that Susan is actually an insurance agent.
The three friends manage to raise sufficient capital to start a car-polishing business together. However, after the loan sharks continue pursuing Ong, and Hui's mother is diagnosed with leukaemia and hospitalised subsequently, Ong and Hui decide to withdraw their shares, but without success because they had all used their money to set up the business and buy the equipment.
Hui's mother dies. At the walk to the crematorium, the loan sharks show up, but are arrested by the police and jailed for six years for illegal loaning of money and violence. Keong convinces his wife and daughter to enter an obstacle race, and they win the first prize of $100,000, which he uses to pay his creditors. The film ends with the car-polishing business turning them into the directors of Autoglym when an employee is satisfied with their skills and brings them to his manager. It ends with Keong still without money after loaning it all to Hui and Ong.
[edit] Cast
The main characters of the movie were played by the following actors:
| Actor/Actress | Character |
|---|---|
| Jack Neo | Chew Wah Keong |
| Mark Lee | Ong |
| Henry Thia | Hui |
[edit] Reception
With earnings of over $5.8 million, Money No Enough is Singapore's all-time highest-grossing movie.[3][4][5][6][7]
The film won Jack Neo the Best Director Award at the 1998 Silver Screen Awards.[8]
Critics gave generally positive reviews of Money No Enough, praising it for its humour, use of Hokkien and ability to resonate with Singaporeans.[9][10][11]
Following the success of Money No Enough, the fledging Singaporean film industry experienced a revival, with a record number of local productions in 1999.[12][13] Two of these 1999 productions, Where Got Problem and Lucky Number, were described as copycats of Money No Enough.[10][14]
[edit] Money No Enough 2
Money No Enough became the second movie after I Not Stupid to have a second season. Filming is currently underway. In this movie, Mark Lee, Marcus Chin and Henry Thia will act as siblings.
[edit] References
- ^ allmovie ((( Riu Bo Gao Eng > Production Credits )))
- ^ Qian bu gou yong (1998) - Release dates
- ^ Qian bu gou yong (1998) - Box office / business
- ^ 12 Storeys 2
- ^ http://www.justfollowlaw.com.sg/jackNeo.asp
- ^ http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/thenewsdesk.aspx?sid=712
- ^ Singapore-based Innoform takes 'Law' into own hands
- ^ Raintree Pictures
- ^ Money No Enough (SINGAPORE 1998)
- ^ a b A Nutshell Review: [Cine.SG] Money No Enough - Probably Singapore's #1 Movie Review Blog
- ^ Money No Enough Review - Variety.com
- ^ Singapore Cinema: In Search of Identity
- ^ http://www.cine.sg/friday5_13.html
- ^ Creating A Singapore Cinema
[edit] External links
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