A lady improper follows the story of, Siu Man, a woman who is abandoned by her husband partly due to her fear of intimacy. After several life crises, she decides to reboot her life by taking over her father's restaurant. Siu Man eventually finds herself attracted to her new chef, a free spirit who treats cooking as serious philosophy. Tired of the shackles she placed on herself, Siu Man embarks on a journey of self-discovery and sexual liberation.
The acting is good on the whole and the actress playing Siu Man does a decent job of playing a fairly difficult role. The score is mind-soothing and simply fitting with the scenes, the cinematography is good as well. The narrative style fits the movie but it felt too long, the movie would've have had more impact on the audience with a tighter run-time. Moreover, I don't particularly find myself invested in the story or rooting for the characters despite being developed well. Appreciate filmmakers courage to produce this kind of film, but the screenplay is just too obtuse, and fails to emotional connect the audience with the characters. A very missed opportunity.
Plot summary
Siu Man is a nurse who has lost who she is as a person. Her marriage has ended partly due to her fear of intimacy and, having been abandoned by her husband, she now faces losing her father after he is hospitalised. Siu Man decides to reboot her life by taking over her father's restaurant but without the experience of being a chef, she has to hire someone. In steps Chia-hao, a Paris-trained cordon bleu chef, who is a free spirit but also treats cooking as serious philosophy and is able to recreate her father's culinary style. It seems that the handsome chef cooks up a storm in and out of the kitchen as he helps Siu Man learn to deliver delicious food and his delicious looks arouses her desire. Through him, Siu Man faces her fear of intimacy head-on and liberates herself.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Movie Reviews
Missed the mark
A new level of bad
The story is indeed nonsense in many aspects. A French cook come to hk and work in a Chinese Macdonald? The main actress character is no way she will do table dance. The appearance of the actress customer aims to express what? When I found out the actress is nominated as one of the best leading actress in hK movie award. OMG.... her acting skill is attain a highest unreasonably level of sxxking. The rating I give is credited to the French cook for his acting. Sorry, I'm mean but its so true.
The Lady Improper
Very much a character study on Charlene Choi's character, but the motives and desires displayed by her feels muddled and incongruent. Her character and the movie itself just isn't constructed in a way that is able to drive the film forward. While her relationship with all three male characters are different, but none of them is really significant enough to make us feel her transformation as natural. The film in the end just feels completely forgettable and the only reason the film is semi-interesting is that it is Charlene's first attempt as a character like this and plain old sexual tension. The motifs and secondary character development also feels mundane at best.