I think we have to get to the bad news in the first paragraph itself. If you too thought Osman's Ali
Jiwa Taiko (2012) was gonna right all the wrongs in
Anak Halal (2009) and combine with the box office sensibilities of
KL Gangster (2011), then we're all the same fools who didn't know that fantastic poster actually reads
"Jiwang Taiko" (
"sentimental triad boss"). Yes, this is a pretty naive movie from the
Nuansa stable that has angered no small number of regular Malay cinemagoers, thanks to a grossly misleadin marketin campaign that sought to mask the melodramatic tripe it really is. We follow convalescent ex-con Remy Ishak and his merry band of welfare home misfits as they do battle against his former crime partner Bront Palarae. Throw in a love rectangle or two (could well be a pentagon or hexagon even), some pseudo-
silat elements and there you have it - a badly edited RM 620,000 box office disaster. Maybe some of the psychotropic drugs in the movie could help alleviate the shame of havin been outgrossed by M Subash's farcical horror
You Believe In Ghost? (2012). My heart goes out to Osman Ali who seems perpetually uninspired in familiar territory.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Like I said - put simply, nobody is buyin the story.
Apparently some steamy scenes were snipped, so how does a wide-release poster with Bront Palarae prominently holdin a cigarette get passed? I remember the magazine I was with, we were receivin warnin letters from the Home Ministry over a tiny movie still of Tarantino's
Grindhouse (2007) in which someone is holdin a cigarette. Guess they're still makin it up on the go.
Anti-AIDS and anti-drugs community service ads from Malaysia's 90s.
I have some sympathy for Bront Palarae, who relishes these psychotic antagonist roles and acts his heart out here. His take on a skinny, doped-up gangster is done with conviction, even if it's actually nothin we ain't seen 30 years ago in Hong Kong triad movies. I guess we have to really scrape the bottom of the barrel for anythin positivity at all in a paper-thin script like this. Special mention here for Nadiyatul Nisaa a.k.a. Nadiya Nisaa who plays problem girl Lara. The poor girl is completely out of her depth, although her beauty mole does exude some dirty girl appeal, sorta like a Malay Blake Lively. I shit you not, this Malaysian Film Festival
Pelakon Harapan winner for
Cun (2011) would've done better for herself if she turned in a mute performance, instead of shriekin English lines like
"I need to think!!!" and bein generally very annoyin at a high-pitch.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Readin
Osman Ali's defence doesn't help. The jury is already out on
its Facebook fan page. Both action and romance border on comical farce. Gratuitous huggin and kissin invoke the wrath of more conservative audiences but on merit alone, this is an insult to the rudimentary plebeian tastes of an already undemandin target crowd. What a huge disappointment.
★1/2
Bonus material:
