Official website: http://www.moneynoenough2.com/
10 years after the release of Money No Enough, Jack Neo is finally back with Money No Enough II, a story injected with comedy and the use of dialects that revolves around the problem of having not enough money in modern Singapore.
As film director Jack Neo is renowned for producing comedy films and movies, many of us may enter the cinema expecting to watch a show entirely filled with humorous scenarios and conversations. However, this time round, Jack Neo actually succeeded in stirring up different emotions in each individual watching the show. On a negative note, foreigners who are unfamiliar with Hokkien may find it slightly difficult to understand the humor content although subtitles are provided. 
The main storyline of this movie is about the lives of three brothers (Henry Thia, Jack Neo, Mark Lee) who are striving very hard to earn as much as money they can. The oldest brother, despite being the poorest of the three, is in charge of taking care of their aged mother. However, after being inspired by his brothers to venture into business, they soon begin to neglect her. Frequent quarrels arise, debating on who is supposed to take care of their aged mother and who is supposed to pay her medical fees. The lack of transactional communication between the three bothers and the old lady caused her to live in misery. Decisions were made between the three brothers, however, they did not take into consideration the opinion of their mother. There was no opportunity for feedback at all. All she could do was accept what her children planned for her (linear model of communication), even when she was left to sleep in the bathroom.
Scenarios of strong verbal communication, whereby second son (Mark Lee) shouted incessantly at his own wife even though she was not the one at fault, provokes the audience to feel a sense of sympathy for his wife. Despite the use of harsh words on his wife, Mark Lee's clever use of facial expressions (nonverbal communication) proved to us that he actually cares for his wife deep inside. Nonverbal forms of communications were also largely portrayed in this movie. A particular scene which I found really tear-jerking was where eldest son (Henry Thia) was assigned to send the old lady to the old folks' home whereby she will be able to receive better medical treatment and care from the nurses over there since the three brothers are busy with their businesses which were on the rocks. In order to avoid hearing his mother's sorrowful cries, Henry Thia ran as fast as he could, without knowing that his poor mother has already collapsed outside the Home. Paired together with a Hokkien song about the woes of being a mother, I feel that this particular scene has successfully reached the hearts of the audience, especially in our society whereby the elderly increasingly becoming neglected by their children.
I feel that the importance of interpersonal communication is strongly highlighted in this movie. Although verbal communication is important, it is crucial for us to not neglect the significance of nonverbal communication. The receiver of the message should be able to decode the message correctly, otherwise there may be certain consequences to bear. An instance in the movie would be a scene whereby Mark Lee's wife secretly misappropriated her company's funds in order to finance her husband's company. All these were done in the name of love, yet they were being misinterpreted as being nosy. Yet another scene is where the old lady kept repeating her questions to her sons because she was suffering from Alzheimer's, yet her sons felt that she was being naggy and irritating. This negligence led to the worsening of her medical conditions as no appropriate treatment was given.
Due to the fact that this film is a local production, it is inevitable, or rather, necessary (i feel), for the inclusion of different dialects to reach out to our local audiences and further emphasize the impact of the messages that are supposed to be brought across. The use of Hokkien songs and conversations effectively allowed audiences to feel a tad "closer" to the movie and feel like they are able to connect with what the director is trying to bring across as they are familiar with the language used. This appropriate use of language clearly illustrates one of Francis Bacon's Idols in the modern period, Idols of the Marketplace. Money No Enough II touched on local issues such as the increase in the number of ERP gantries around the island, the importance of filial piety, integrity, and most importantly, the need of effective communication. The self-sacrificial actions of the old lady (her willingness to give up the last packet of blood for her granddaughter, to sleep in the bathroom in order to prevent creating inconveniences for her children) led us to reflect on the way we treat our elders and also motivates us to be better, more filial children in future.
Money No Enough II, I feel, has been a successful production as it has an emotional and rational appeal that stimulates the arousal of different emotions in every individual. Each of us leaves the cinema with a different feeling in our hearts, and a different goal on how to cherish our loved ones before it is too late.
14 comments:
I also feel that the use of Hokkien language further enables the audiences to feel that the movie is closer to our hearts. Especially since most of the elderly here are still speaking in dialects. Besides that, the use of nonverbal communication in the scenes mentioned really provokes us to think deeper and interpret the feelings of the characters in the show. The use of touching songs also allowed the director to reach out to the audiences and bring across the message of the importance of being filial to our parents. Ultimately, kinship greatly surpass the importance of money.
I think that it is wise of Jack Neo to use Hokkien to appeal to the Hokkien-speaking community too. After all, we almost do not see many of such around. The older community whom normally speaks Hokkien will also have their share of entertainment. There really isn't many shows that could appeal to them anymore.
My grandma personally loves such shows. Good one!
Hey! I thought this movie was great! I mean, the movie was a hit to my heart and it was definitely hilarious. But more improtantly, we can use Jack Neo's perspective by this movie to get a feel of how people feel about the lower income groups in Singapore. Drawing a parallel to another movie made by him, 3 Good Men, this movie showed a side of convicts, not only in Singapore viewed lives after their release (I use this example because I just caught this example on TV just now). We can actually see how people, not only employers see ex-convicts. Have we really sterotyped the criminals in our society in that we do not change our perspective of them after they have done their time in prison? We create big hype and a big who-haa when we see shocking reports of criminal activity on the papers and in the media in general. When they finally leave prison, we do not give them a celebration that they have changed or any hype on media. Is it because we view them as once a criminal always a criminal? Do we even stop to consider that they have changed? I hope when we view movies, we ponder on the intrinsic value and not only laugh at the hilarious show. Going back to Money No Enough, the issues raised with a touch of comedy really touched me. If you havent caught it, catch it when the DVD's out! Thanks Regina for blogging about this movie! =) Two thumbs up!
I also agree that Jack Neo managed to appeal to the audience by using touching scenarios that we could relate to in our everyday lives. For example, many of us are guilty of spending too much time in our offices instead of with our family members, hence, neglecting the importance of kinship. furthermore, the sporadic injection of humorous scenes also help lighten up the moods of the people watching the show. all in all, its definitely a great movie that is able to bring its underlying message across and at the same time, allow the audience to laugh their hearts out. cheers to this review!
i watched this movie and i actually cried towards the last part of the show! i guess the director really managed to move the audience. besides from portraying our country as 'money-sucking' with the increased number of ERP gantries, the director could probably include certain positive aspects of living in singapore. this would also act as a form of introducing the country to foreigners who are watching the show. =)
Well it’s really a great a movie which is not lengthy and at the same time depicting about what is really going on in Singapore, unemployment, ERP etc in a very direct way. There isn’t any much show now a day that actually really holds the Singapore essence like this one with the hokkien dialect and “Singlish”. Also this movie really reminds us about our daily lifestyles, with the each every part of it. People been chasing after time with the society, neglecting about the people around us especially our love ones. Being selfish and supercilious, forgetting about what we used to be and what we have been through as time goes. So what if you actually got what you want but not what you need, in the end you won’t be happy and ask yourself “what have I done?” when you finally realize what really going on. By then, you’ll be begging for a second chance.
So it always best to cherish what is around us and be contented, no one would know what might happen in the future, maybe tonight you’ll be sleeping peacefully not bothering about anything but tomorrow may come the armageddon . Now the Antarctica ice is melting, so no one knows.
The movie really worth the time no matter is it at home or cinema, but for the hilarious part is not as good as the previous one of course. But still, thumbs up with 4.5 stars over 5 for this movie.
...i dont think the movie was superb in comparison with the first one...no doubt its touching...but thats probably all about it... its more like a showcase or a documentary of a pretty typical singapore lifestyle... the problems of this kind of lifestyle...
..the movie was supposedly made to.. i think... to remind singaporeans about what they are missing in life and time for us, materialistic social workaholics to start cherishing people around us and build a better relationship and bonds between family... however... in this present ever-changing society that the government has created... i doubt it would be of much use... i mean even if u remind singaporeans about all these issues that people are facing at home... it wouldnt change much ...this is ultimate result from this kind of society that we live in...
..hmm.... guess thats about it... =X
i went to watch this movie purely hoping that i would be able to enjoy thoroughly in this local comedy. never did i expect the director to be able to twist the plot of the story and make the movie end by moving the audience with the touching storyline. a great balance of humour and everyday life experiences that we always neglect.
Well, personally, i feel that this movie lacks a certain element - breakthrough. True, it tugs the heartstrings and we (singaporeans) can all relate to the issues he brings up in his movie, however, there is nothing new in the way he tries to bring his message across.
There is no element of surprise, you can expect what's going to happen next.
It is great to have someone like Jack Neo producing movies that brings across social messages so well, however, in the long run, the audiences will be tired of the "Tried and tested" method.
That said, Jack Neo sure has a way to appeal and capture the hearts of the audiences.
I have not watched the movie yet myself but so many good comments makes me interested.
The 1st movie was suprisingly better than i anticipated a local movie to be.
pretty much because as everyone stated it strikes our Singaporean heart with issues that a lot of Singaporeans are dealing with.
Still i wouldn't watch it in a cinema. Not very sure the reason being what. Maybe its Like Kaejisi said it lacks a certain element that makes it cimema worth.
Or maybe its a kind of movie better enjoyed at home with your family. A bit of both i guess...
Hey, i totally agree to the point that we cannot neglect the importance of non-verbal communications. Verbal communication is not everything as many a time we do not mean what we say. Facial expressions and body languages hence come into play and are key considerations to interpreting the intentions of what the message really meant. Yes, the use of Hokkien dialect enhances the effects of what the director wants to bring across to the audience. However, we should not forget that the use of a major dialect expands the range of targeted audience thus pushing up the movie's revenue.
this movie is a humourous yet emotional one. i left the cinema feeling a sense of empathy towards the elderly in our society. i guess many of us are guilty of neglecting our elders and taking them for granted. the hokkien music in the background is very tear-jerking and the lyrics in the song really depicts certain real life situations. after watching the show, i felt so motivated and encouraged to treat my grandparents better and cherish and appreciate them.
this movie is definitely quite a big difference from the first movie, money no enough. the humour factor is still in tact, but this time, the director injected not only humour but also emotional scenes and family values such as filial piety. despite watching this movie for almost 5 times, any play back of the sad scenes will still trigger tears to flow down my cheeks. thus, i feel that director jack neo has definitely been very successful at creating an appeal to emotion and at the same time, not fail to inject humour into the show.
the success of a movie lies largely on whether it is able to move audiences, bring across its intended message, as well as create an impact on the viewer. despite being quite a "predictable" movie (we all know it is going to be another comedy show with lots of local scenes and dialects), i feel that this time, there was a slight twist to the story. the director brought in the emphasis of family values and social issues that many of us often ignore.
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