Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 10/25/2003 Summary: ummm.......... I am not a fan of Lau Ching Wan and this movie tells me i am not again. I did have a few laughs but that was about it. The main character was annoying and so was Yuen Wah's character. I just didn't get into this movie. Seeing Dayo Wong as a bastard is a change for him. Nothing new here, nothing too interesting 4/10

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 01/13/2002 Summary: Quite good A romantic comedy set 100 years or so ago, about a rich man who looses his memory (yeah yeah, seen it before) and a girl who cares for him trying to get him back to normal. Rating: 3/5 (This rating is based on the year & genre, so don't think it's based as a comparison on new releases etc.)

Reviewed by: danton Date: 01/03/2002 One of the few movies that shows Lau Ching Wan in period costume opposite Wu Chien Lien as the object of his romantic interest. Lau Ching Wan starts the movie as a rich jerk, who through some far-fetched plot contrivances ends up retarded. Wu is the strong-mined and ambitious woman who played an involuntary part in the conspiracy that was responsible for his condition, and partly out of guilty conscience, she takes him in and soon finds herself more and more attracted to the honest, good-hearted fool he has become. This is a comedy, and much of the story is played for laughs (with Yuen Wah bearing the brunt of much of it in an atypical good-guy role). Nevertheless, Wu Chien Lien (who plays the straight man to Lau Ching Wan's foolery) infuses the picture with some poignant emotions. There is a happy ending, of course, and true love triumphs... This movie feels a lot like a Stephen Chow comedy, and is just as good. I really enjoyed it. Recommended.

Reviewed by: hktopten Date: 12/21/1999 I have to agree with Chris, it's ONE of the best films of the year. Like other WINS productions, it is polished and commercial. There are mostly no "cold" scenes (i.e. every scene moves very smoothly to the next, no "boring" scenes like a lot of recent films.) Recommended.

Reviewed by: shelly Date: 12/09/1999 A good straight comedy. Many things are right about this movie: it's good to see a strong energetic camera style again, amidst healthy production values. Fine comic performances by a uniformly excellent cast: Yuen Wah makes a mean comedian and is still a dazzling acrobat; Wu Chien-lien, in her best role since Treasure Hunt last year, is lovely, funny, and gives her character some real depth, and Lau Ching Wan is at his best (I think, but I'm in a real minority here) with this kind of zany, manic persona. The script was unusually grown up, subtle: a lot of the humour came from amusing little quiet moments, precisely timed. For the first half hour, the movie looked ready to take off somewhere special; then it started to ramble slightly and settled into being merely very good. Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Only three new Hong Kong directors have surpassed my expectationswith their first efforts during the last two years. Guk Tak-Chiu is one of them. "Only Fools Fall in Love" is a fairly ordinary story - a wealthy, intelligent but mean-spirited man loses his vast fortune and intellect in a family struggle. In exchange he found love and just perhaps - how to be a better person. However, Guk and Lee's surprisingly intelligent and solid screenplay makes it different from the norm Hong Kong comedy. Early in the film, we saw how Chiu Fok (Lau Ching-Wan) achieved mastery in every situation through his superior intellect. As Chiu Fok before his impairment, Lau turned in a charismatic performance. His character is amazingly intelligent but deplorably self-centred. In normal circumstances Lau would have gotten praise just for playing the `foolish' Fok - but since he is so impressive as the `smart' Fok, the `fool' appears wan in comparison. Ng Sin-Lin gave a strong performance (certainly her best in a costume role) as the smart, tough and opportunistic Mong Dee with just the right degree of tenderness. The screen affinity between her and Lau has never been better. Instead of his usual evil roles, Yuen Wah is endearing and comical as Dee's greedy father (also showing some of his acrobatic skills in the film.) Wong Chi-Wah managed to inject a sense of bottled-up frustration into his role as Jack - a man taunted into attempted fratricide. After years of `Moleitau' conditioning it is refreshing to see a Hong Kong comedy where the characters are of uniform high intelligence and the humour is driven by the wit of the script as much as the comic performance. For a first timer, Guk's direction is generally competent. Guk did not waste his time by being pretentious or stylish - the film is visually pleasing on big screen - with the right look of authenticity. Despite only moderately budgeted, the production quality of this film is high. My feeling is Guk has set out to entertain in "Only Fools Fall in Love" with a smart script - and is successful. The story is predictable but in getting there, the audience is rarely bored. Despite its title, this film doesn't treat its audience as `fools'. Instead, it is a funny and engrossing comedy drama. (7.5/10) [Reviewed by Christopher Fu]

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL Sort of a rural Chinese Regarding Henry, except less sincere and a little dumber. Part-time swindler-by-necessity Wu Chien Lien (the most beautiful woman alive) and her father have a plan: all their financial problems would be solved if they could trick the richest, smartest (and cruelest) man in town (Lau Ching Wan) to marry her -- then she'd just split town with the money before the wedding night. But through one of those accidents characteristic to HK films, Lau accidentally gets bumped on the head, causing him to lose his memory and become the town fool. Wu takes pity on the unfortunate man once he becomes a blubbering beggar, but soon finds it just about impossible to make him go away. Mildly diverting, though my print looked as it someone used it to shine their shoes. (2/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 5