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 |
| All Movie Guide 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 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), an apartment renovator; and Hui (Henry Thia), who works in a coffee shop, and has a crush on one of his customers, JoJo (Patricia Mok).
Keong quits his job after an argument with his boss. He is unable to get a new job, due to his lack of academic qualifications and computer illiteracy. With installments and bills to pay, and a family to support, Keong lands heavily in debt. His wife, who disagrees with his spending habits, leaves him, taking their daughter 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.
When Hui attempts to woo JoJo, she asks him for his mobile phone number. As Hui does not own a mobile phone, he starts shopping for one, but instead of the latest model, he ends up buying a huge, but obsolete, model. He once went for prostitution, but backed out.
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 leukemia, Ong and Hui decide to withdraw their shares.
Hui's mother dies. At her funeral, the loan sharks show up, but are arrested by the police. 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 becoming a success.
[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] References
- ^ http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:168181~T3
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125468/releaseinfo
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125468/business
- ^ http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc46.2003/12storeys/storeys2.html
- ^ http://www.justfollowlaw.com.sg/jackNeo.asp
- ^ http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/thenewsdesk.aspx?sid=712
- ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/awards_festivals/afm/news/e3id6c4ee2d0ce56f12a3d60b4537acd4fa
- ^ http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/movies/liang/liang_cast.htm
- ^ http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/money_no_enough.htm
- ^ a b http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/08/cinesg-money-no-enough.html
- ^ http://stage.variety.com/review/VE1117913199.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
- ^ http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/yvo011.htm
- ^ http://www.cine.sg/friday5_13.html
- ^ http://www.filmsasia.net/gpage89.html
[edit] External links
| Jack Neo films |
|---|
| Money No Enough (1998) | That One No Enough (1999) | Liang Po Po: The Movie (1999) I Not Stupid (2002) | Homerun (2003) | The Best Bet (2004) | I Do I Do (2005) One More Chance (2005) | I Not Stupid Too (2006) | Just Follow Law (2007) |
