Cuak Review

Cuak tak? 

Cuak Review – After the awesomeness that was ‘Kami Histeria’, my first local movie after a long time, I was looking forward to this flick because it offered something new that is seldom done in our local` movie industry. Have you ever wondered what if a different director was given the responsibility to direct a certain movie? For example, what if Titanic was directed by Woody Allen instead of James Cameron? There lies the twist in this film. Instead of just a single ‘Sutradara’, the production team took a bold step into getting five (5) upcoming young talented directors to tell parts of the movie according to their vision and later on mash it all up into a single feature release called Cuak. Think this ‘gamble’ will pay off? Jeng jeng jeng

Where ar emy eggs dey? :(

The story is about Adam (Ghafir Akbar) facing his big day to end his bachelor life wanting to marry his Chinese girlfriend, Brenda (Dawn Cheong). He somehow gets cold feet or Cuak so he starts to have second thoughts about his decision. As I mentioned earlier, the movie is helmed by five (5) different directors so it came in five separate scenes namely, The Bachelor Party, Issues, The Footage, Consent and The Couples. Let’s begin with the bachelor party. Adam’s friends consist of a married guy who have since ‘changed a lot’ while his other unattached bro’s keep messing with Adam’s decision to settle down as they think it might change him as well. They try to have a ‘fun’ party but end facing and few Issues which bring us to the next chapter, Issues. It is literally about issues between Adam, his step brother, Mikail (Tony Eusoff) and Brenda; I will skip this part because to me this was the least interesting chapter of the movie. Moving on to ‘Meet the Parents’ part referred to as ‘Consent’ where Adam goes to meet Brenda’s Dad, Mr. Wong (Uncle Patrick Teoh) to get his blessings. Loads of funny circumstances follows this meeting and Little did Adam knew that he was under so many ‘tests’ before actually meeting his future father-in-law. Meanwhile, the Footage captures the moments when Adam was actually dating Brenda’s housemate, Nurul (Ani Juliana Ibrahim) but things didn’t work out and finally my favourite feature of the movie, ‘The Couples’ where the Adam and Brenda butt heads over a simple matter, which might sound and look…well…simple but it’s not. Will this ‘fusion couple’ actually get married in the end?

'Voice of God' and Mr. Funnyman, Uncle Patrick and Jenhan! 

I recognise most of the cast members such as Tony, Craig, Uncle Patrick, Jenhan except for the main actors, Ghafir and Dawn but for a newbie, they did quite a decent job. Slightly over the top and sometime too amateurish but overall not bad. As for the Directors, called me biased but I liked Shamaine Othman’s ‘part’ better than the other four directors, not to say the rest didn’t do a good job but having watched her doing her short direction for Ikal Mayang project called Love Story, I predict loads more awesome job from this talented lass. As for the music, dialogue and other bits and pieces, the team also performed well by putting five different perception into a single movie. There are room for improvement but generally it was a good effort.

Producer and the Directors! 

I was just about to enter a contest to watch the movie when I got invitation from Churp Churp (thanks a lot guys!) to attend the press screening instead. Lagi best, sebab I managed to get a glimpse of those involved. I even stayed back for the press conference and understood better the work put into making this reel a reality. Proud to find out that the Producer have been wanting to produce this work since 2005. There was a sense of accomplishment in his face when he was speaking to the press about his labour of love. Largely this was a brave attempt and hopefully will gain attention once it’s released to the general public. I would recommend it to my friends because it depicts what happens in a relationship, the behind the scene before a couple finally decides to take the big step into taking their relationship further. It might be influenced by so many other people but it’s up to the individual to take the plunge or get Cuak and end their courtship! 

He is  not scary but really quite friendly! 

Ehem...guess who??? ;)