MEN DON'T CRY

Title: Men Don't Cry
Length: 21 episodes Starring:
Dayo Wong - Ho Kei Kin/Gan Yan Kin Cecila Yip - Ling Yuk Choi/Ah Choi Dominic Wong- Wong Fei Hong Benz Hui - Ah Chut So Jazz Lam - Gum Cheen Pao Viven Yeo - Ling Yuk Bik
The highly anticipated new TVB drama Men Don't Cry aka Evil Kin was finally broadcasted in early October all over Hong Kong. This 20 episode drama is well paced with good casting; starring Dayo Wong reputed for his stand up comedy shows and Cecilia Yip famous for her great achievements winning herself the best actress award from Hong Kong Film Awards. This drama is simply great and it has my vote for being the best drama (not just comedy) for 2007.
Since this is my very first time writing a review and publishing it online for viewers to read, I will do my best to write the best review I can. I will first start off with a brief summary about this drama and then break up the parts to analyze the casting and the in-depth characterization for each important character in the story, and finally I will conclude my review by including my feelings for this series.
Guang Zhou's Kei Street has a notorious villain named Ho Kei Keen which everyone refers him to Gan Yan Keen. Gan Yan Keen is famous for his cruel antics, bullying, and massive usage of manipulation. Having the advantage of befriending the mayor's pampered son, Sing Sing, Kin takes for granted the close alliances he has formed with the mayor as well as other top head authorities in town. With such a high status, it is not surpising that everyone in town is afraid of him. But all of this is to change in Kin's life after meeting Wong Fei Hong, Ah Chut So, Ling Yuk Choi, and Ling yuk Bik - all who will turn into significant figures in Kin's life.
The series first started out with Ho Kei Keen wanting to form a kungfu sect of his own, so that he could gain a higher and more powerful status than his arch enemy, Man Ding Gor. Evil Kin stole the name of the great Wong King Ying (father of Wong Fei Hong) as the person he defeated in a combat fight. Shortly afterwards, Wong Fei Hong came back from far away China with his two loyal disciples: Ah Chut So and Chen Chut, for a marriage arrangement that was set up by his deceased father. But to his dismay, Hong got entwined into a mess with Evil Kin after learning that Evil Kin purposely used his father's name to help cheat in his kungfu business. Gan Yan Keen vowed for revenge for being humiliated in front of everyone during a fight he lost with Wong Fei Hong.
Ling Yuk Choi also came back to Kei Street after a decade's worth of absence while she was working as a servant for the rich girl, Jenny (played by Charmaine Li) in England. When Gan Yan keen first met Ah Choi, he immediately fell in love with her, only realizing to his horror and great disappointment that she had buckteeth. From that point on, Gan Yan Kin loathed her and took every opportunity he had to criticize and throw hurtful remarks at her each time they met. Upon arriving back home, Ah Choi found out that a lot of her family members had changed. Her older brother married to a bitchy wife who gave no liking to Ah Choi, her younger brother spent most of his time hanging out with Kin to stir up trouble, and her young sister became a psychological traumatized, social-phobic, fearing everyone including her family members.
One day, given orders from the town's mayor, Gan Yan Kin had to come up with a plan to snatch Ah Choi's house in return of earning himself the position of being the head of Kei's street. Ah Kin formulated many plans but to his avail failed every time. His final plan-also his successful one- was to woo Ah Choi so she could pass down the house contract to him. However, the mayor did not mark his words upon receiving the contract from Kin and to kin's anger decided to retaliate back by harming Sing Sing in giving him abusive substances to control him. Kin's plan worked but he only had a few days to glorify his status as head of Kei's street, before his dream was demolished by Wong Fei Hong.
Soon, Kin became the centre of hatred and contempt to everyone and was punished by being sent away from town. Kin escaped afterwards and returned back to Kei Street. He begged Wong Fei Hong to accept him as a disciple. Despite the strong disapprovals and protests the villagers gave, Hong was willing to accept Kin without hesitation for he was determined to discipline Kin and bring the goodness out of him. Nevertheless, Kin only purpose in Po Chi Lam was to exact his revenge on Wong Fei Hong by turning his kungfu sect, Po Chi Lam in turmoil.
Many events started to happen during Kin's stay in Po Chi Lam. He mistakens Ah Chut So for being his long lost father and eventually their relationship developed into a strong father-and-son bond, and were no longer enemies like they used to be. Ah Kin also changed his feelings towards Ah Choi as he eventually saw the goodness inside of her. Near the end of the story, Ah Kin decided to sabotage Wong Fei Hong's reputation by secretly serving him some drugs known as Wong Sek San (sorry I do not know the English name for it) causing him to be hyperactive and drowsy. But his plan failed and Ah Kin became deeply touched by Wong Fei Hong when Hong did not spill the beans to every one of kin's malicious plans in wanting to harm him in the lion dance competition. Kin finally learned the true goodness of a human being and decided to turn over a new leaf to become a better person. Wong Fei Hong was left half blinded after taking Kin's harmful drugs and decided to pass down his position as head of Po Chi Lam to Ah Kin. Just when things were starting to mend together and the darkness was finally being covered up by light, did it reveal later of Kin changing Wong Fei Hong's medication into something harmful. Kin was kicked out of Po Chi Lam for good and he became the centre of hatred once again...
Character analysis
Dayo Wong as Ho Kei Kin One word AMAZING. I love him in this drama!!! Dayo truly gave all he could for his role, for his performance was just completely flawless. He is able to portray a character which everyone can easily fit into his shoes and understand each and every feeling he has. His character, Ho Kei Keen is supposed to be despised by the many. But, I simply did not feel the same way. Perhaps, the scriptwriter for this drama decided to make his character less loathsome by adding a very sad childhood life for his character. His childhood life was indeed very sad. Ho Kei Keen never met his biological father before because his father had left him and his mother. His mother later married off another man hoping for a better life for Kin, but eventually she died of illness. Ho Kei Kin had no one left to be taken care off, all except his step father. His stepfather however, never cared for him and often abused him whenever he was in rage.
It was his bruises and wounds that left Ah Kin to become more vicious and cruel to people around him because this is how learned to survive and not have people step on you. Although Kin is hated by everyone in the story, he did have a companion who was very loyal to him and was always with him for the good times and bad times. His sidekick is Gum Cheen Pao. As the main character of the story, his character went through many transitions and changes in his life. He went from a detestable character to what someone would call a heroic person at the end. He went from a big mean bully that had nothing else to say to Ah Choi other than taunting and criticizing her to actually understanding more about her and caring for her like a friend.
If you want to ask if he later developed true feelings for Ah Choi, I would say YES he did. He loves her so much that he was willing to sacrifice many things for her to give her happiness. Dayo's acting was so full of life. His facial expressions were well rounded. Dayo was not only funny and brilliant with his jokes, but he also portrayed a vicious, emotional, sly, and a pitiful being in this series. One scene which I was extremely impressed with was the scene when he and Cecilia were both trapped in a cave and he had to cry while telling his past life. I have to say that he gave more in his acting in this drama than his last work he did for TVB: To Catch the Uncatchable. It's a shame that Dayo didn't even get nominated for best actor this year, but rather actors like Raymond Lam (who did not act that GOOD) got nominated instead.
Dominic Lam as Wong Fei Hong There isn't much to say about Dominic in this series. I personally found that his acting was entirely shed under Dayo Wong's acting. This is my very first time seeing Dominic's works and for him being a veteran in the filming business, I would expect a lot more of him. Perhaps, I can't blame him entirely, as his character, Wong Fei Hong is suppose to be overly dull and lifeless. This is definitely a very easy job for Dominic Lam to play because all he had to do was keep a very straight and serious face the whole time!
Cecilia Yip as Ling Yuk Choi It is definitely new and refreshing watching Cecilia play this role in this drama. I have seen two of her early works this year: Jiang Ji Jiu Ji and Family Link; in both she acted spectacularly. And this series is no exception too, as Cecila once again did not fail to prove her worth for the audience. Her character, Yuk Choi is a very gentle, happy-go-lucky optimistic person. She does not let her appearance lower her dignity and her ability to enjoy life. However, after meeting, Dayo in the series, her life also changes too. Her heart was severely wounded after she learned that Ah Kin was using her the whole time and playing love with her. Here in this drama, Ah Choi had to pick between two men: Ho Kei Kin and Wong Fei Hong. I won't spoil the ending of who she pairs up at the end, but I will say to you that she loved Ah Kin more than Fei Hong simply because she found her life more interesting with Kin than with Hong. And because of that she was willing to break up the marriage arrangement with Wong Fei Hong. But during the time when Ah Kin got kicked out from Po Chi Lam, did she slowly spend more of her time with Wong Fei Hong...
Benz Hui as Ah Chut So He's funny as always. His character is actually quite loveable and cute here. Ah Chut So used to be a bandit before converting himself to a better person after becoming Wong Fei Hong's pupil. He loathed Gan Yan Kin after he was thrown in prison and because of him, Ah Chut So wanted vengeance ever since then. He faked his identity of being Gan Yan Kin's long lost father for the purpose of wanting to get back the jade stones that Kin had stolen from him. But eventually their phoney relationship turned into a very interesting bond and brought them to a higher level of their chemistry. In short, his character is very likeable in this series and far more interesting to watch than Wong Fei Hong.
Viven Yeo as Ling Yuk Bik This is my second time watching her in a TVB drama after seeing her in Sunshine Heartbeat. Her acting did improve as well as her oral Chinese. But I still find her acting to be very stiff. Apart from Ah Kin, she is the second and last person to have revealed to the audience her past childhood life. Her unpleasant childhood caused her to have a very serious mental illness as she no longer wanted to be in contact with anyone, even her family. However, with the help of Gan Yan Kin, Yuk Bik crawled out of her turtle shell and became an actual person who could step out of her home and interact with other people around her. Ah Bik is actually the very first person to become friends with Gan Yan Kin. Later on in the story, she became a popular movie actress. And another thing to point out about her character is that Ah Bik has a deep crush on Gan Yan Kin throughout the second half of the story.
Jazz Lam Tsz Sin As Gum Cheen Pao Jazz has been in countless films and he is well known for being in Stephen Chow movies. I heard that this actor was brought into TVB by Dayo Wong. But whether it is true or a rumour, I am glad that TVB had given him the chance to cast in this series because this guy CAN ACT. Jazz actually had a pretty difficult time with his role, with the fact that he had to use his fake hoarse voice throughout most of the series. He gave a very convincing performance as Gum Cheen Pao. I found his acting to be much more acceptable than the actor who played Cecila's younger brother. He might not be likeable in the beginning but will guarantee to change your views towards him as the story progresses further. Gum Cheen Pao is very loyal to Ah Kin and evidence will later reveal in the story that he really truly treats Gan Yan Kin as a Dai Lo, who is willing to sacrifice many things for him. One thing to note about Jazz is that in this series, he had to used a fake hoarse voice to play this role. It is not only near the end, where he changes his voice.
My own thoughts for this drama: It was definitely worth my time watching this series. The humor was very good. The funny moments were quite consistent throughout the whole series and you can pretty much expect yourself to find a funny scene in every episode, all EXCEPT the last three episodes when the storyline shifts from a lighthearted moment to something very dark and solemn. The length of the series is just perfect because it is neither short nor too long. The casting is also very good and close to being flawless, with the help of the two leading actor and actress. However, to my dismay, the series did not have good results when it was aired in Hong Kong. Many people were too busy criticizing the crude humour that was added in the storyline to even have time to appreciate the wonderful character development in the story. When this series was being promoted in HK, Dayo Wong actually announced that he had high hopes that this drama will turn out to be a success that he was willing to gamble away some of his free stand-up comedy tickets to whoever was disappointed with the series.
The ending is definitely shocking as it was not the ending I had expected to be. It did leave me feeling disappointed because it left many things for the audience to guess. Many of the characters just sort of disappeared in the story because no ending was given to them. You will pretty much expect yourself to find this ending similar to the ending they had for To Catch the Uncatchable because Men Don't Cry's ending left many of the audience with mixed feelings. Some might like it, others would not.
On the whole, if you ignore the ending and just concentrate on the main story, I would say that this drama is worthy of your time to watch. The first two episodes might not seem so interesting to you, but it becomes more and more interesting later on. I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone who is a fan of Dayo Wong or Cecila Yip. The script is indeed very interesting and it's something new that TVB has never really thought of making.
PS I do not own this review.