Reviewed by: evirei Date: 09/02/2012 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 08/14/2010 If you like romantic comedies, you'll probably dig Love Undercover, which was a big hit in Hong Kong upon its' premiere in 2002, going on to insipre two sequels and a spin-off. But if you've been reading this site for any amount of time, you can probably surmise that I am most definitely not a fan of the genre, so sitting through this, especially in a house without air conditioning during the middle of August, was about as pleasant as waiting in line at the DMV. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 09/11/2006 “Love Undercover” is another in what seems to be an inexhaustible stream of movies that put attractive young women in the uniform of the Hong Kong Police Department. Its success depends on the not inconsiderable goofy charm of Miriam Yeung. She is funny, has good comic timing and doesn’t mind looking like a bit of an idiot. Things get off to a bang while the opening credits are still rolling, with Yeung’s L K Fong at the pistol range. She fires her first clip and is thrilled when on of the bullets nicks the corner of the target. On her next attempt her first shot hits the support holding the target and knocks the entire thing to the ground. Daniel Wu is mainly along for the ride, playing the straight man to the comic stylings of just about everyone around him. The supporting cast is terrific and very well used. Joe Lee as Cheung, the bodyguard, is asked by An Hoi-Man (Wu) why he is always looking around while slipping his hand into his jacket, a move we have seen countless times in movies—Secret Service agents, Triad or Mafia bodyguards, lot of characters looking tough while (apparently) keeping a hand close to a pistol in a shoulder holster. In Cheung’s case he says that a mosquito bit him on the nipple and he looks around to make sure none of his friends catch him scratching it since it would be embarrassing. There are many other instances, as other reviewers have mentioned, of poking fun at the images and conventions of cop/gangster movies plus a lot of just plain dumb but still funny stuff, such as Fong’s two patrolman classmates who, while pretending to be part of her family, introduce themselves as twins, “Charlene and Gillian”. Some specific topical references escaped me. I know that Daniel Wu doesn’t (or didn’t in 2001) speak properly accented Cantonese and that part of the joke was that his character was willing to learn to speak it but. According to Fong he was hopeless—that the only way to learn to pronounce Cantonese correctly was to speak with a cork in your mouth. It was this last bit that I didn’t get—why a cork in the mouth? Hiu Sui-Hung has played so many police commanders that he should be on the Hong Kong Police senior officers’ pension scheme. He did is usual good job here, moving from irascible to concerned to confused. His team kept things going quite will—for example when they rescued a retired Triad chief from an assassin the managed to bang his head against a car door, drop him on the ground, trip him and generally beat him up. They were more dangerous to him than the sharpshooter with the rifle. The various silly pieces of spy equipment that almost always fail include a ketchup bottle with a microphone in the bottom (a bottle that pops up quite a few times), a massage chair that is a lie detector and a camera in a teapot. Ultimately “Love Undercover” fails—we aren’t able to care about the main characters. An Hoi-Man is wealthy, a successful businessman who is bored with commerce and who suddenly falls in love with the perky waitress—a bit of a “Pretty Woman” twist. Fong, the undercover cop playing the waitress, handles all the insanity around her just a bit too well for us to empathize with her. Miriam Yeung shows some real acting ability in the extended scene in which she is forced to break up with Wu. Her character is wretched and heartbroken but still willing to carry out her duty. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: JohnR Date: 06/16/2006 Summary: Recommended I've come very late to this movie because in forums I heard Miriam Yeung being trashed so much. But I took the plunge recently and I'm glad I did. This really is a funny movie, as most of the other reviewers have reported. I thought Miriam did a good job; I almost feel like I'm confessing to a character flaw by saying I enjoyed her performance, but I did. It may not have been award-worthy, but it was effective. I think what rides a lot of people off of her is that, although she has a fairly high cute factor, there's something cold about her. I can't put my finger on it. There is good chemistry among the actors; they really did come off as a team. Raymond Wong and Hui Siu-Hung are in good form. I really enjoyed Joe Ma and the writer's parodying of police movies. The scenes where the squad is tightly packed and Hui Siu-Hung is yelling "go, go, go" are hilarious, as was the scene and dizzying editing in the scene in the squad room when they go into action mode and Hui Siu-Hung keeps following up on the food order. There are lots of other moments along the way in the same vein. Anyway, this is good, clean fun with lots of laughs. 7.5

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 12/18/2004 Summary: "very entertaining, a real screwball comedy" This film is a lighthearted romantic comedy, so very popular in the SAR over the last couple of years. Ms. Yeung is 'Sammi Light', if you get my drift. Daniel Wu is an always colorful performer so I was interested in seeing him in a comedy. This movie is very entertaining, a real screwball comedy. The storyline is totally implausible, and the supporting characters make this movie come to life. If you like this type of Hong Kong movie, I heartily recommend it. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 05/27/2003 Summary: Ummm......... A slightly above average romantic comedy. There are a few laughs and Miriam Yeung plays her cutey role well. But it's nothing new or special here. I feel like Daniel Wu wanted to BURST out speaking english all the way (like Micheal Wong) and his performance seemed strained. There is not much to say about this movie, because it's only average 6.25/10 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: icacutee Date: 04/17/2003 Funny movie, way better than Dummy Mummy without a baby. This is certainly one of Miriam Yeung's best comedies. She is funny and plays the character really well. There isn't anyone I can think of that could replace her in this role. Daniel Wu is totally hot in this movie. However, I think he does need to improve a bit in his chinese, because it is hard to hear him at times. He is very sweet in the movie, making him cooler than ever. However.... What in the world was the director thinking, pairing Miriam with Daniel? Face the facts, Miriam is not pretty...how could she end up with a gorgeous dude like Daniel? Let's say that is possible....but why would Daniel fall for her? It would be more realistic if it was Miriam falling for Daniel. I especially liked the pairing of Sammy and Wyman in this movie - they were really funny. Also at the end where the director actually acts, that was funny too. There may have been some lame jokes (eg: officer constantly asking for his food delivery), but this movie was great. Funny and entertaining. Especially great for Daniel fans (topless...enough said)!!! Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 03/28/2003 Summary: Extremely light comedy Forget coherency, originality or acting, and you might enjoy this light dose which affords countless opportunities for outbursting laughters. In fact, this may well be the FUNNIEST movie I have ever seen. I have never liked Daniel Wu, but he is very cool here. I recommend this movie with 2 thumbs up to those interested in light entertainment. The only downside is the awfully generic themesong. [8/10] Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: danton Date: 12/26/2002 After really disliking Dry Wood Fierce Fire, I went into this film with a strong disposition towards finding it flawed. Instead, the film had me laughing even before the opening credits were over, and I didn't stop laughing till the very end. Who would have thought - Myriam Yeung is actually quite funny! And she has a well-developed script to work with here: the story builds an increasingly absurd and farcical comedy of errors around a simple premise, throws in some nice running gags, funny side characters, and even manages to develop some touching moments along the way. It's all mindless fluff, of course, and not that different from any of the other recent HK comedies that follow the Needing You mold, but it was a least executed well enough to make me not mind. And after all, you have to fill the time between releases of new Stephen Chiau movies some way or another. Recommended. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: MilesC Date: 07/01/2002 Summary: Not bad... Like Joe Ma and Miriam Yeung's last collaboration, Dummy Mummy Without a Baby, this is pretty light and inconsequential fluff; you're not going to get much more than you expect here. Just like Dummy Mummy, it's full of implausible situations and mugging from Yeung. However, I think this one is funnier; some of the gags might be dumb or overused, but there is some good stuff in there, including one or two scenes that actually made me laugh. Miriam Yeung is going to have to break some new ground if she wants to remain popular, but Love Undercover was a decent way to spend 90 minutes.

Reviewed by: reelcool Date: 06/01/2002 Summary: Attack of the Clones- HK style What is it about Hong Kong movies that makes them all look the same lately? Is there but one writer in all of HK? Are they recycling the same script with different names/actors? As for "Love Undercover", this is essentially Johnny To's, "Needing You" with cops. As a matter of fact, Miriam Yueng owes her career to Sammi, because there isn't enough Sammi to go around. They actually had to create another Sammi to do all the movies. You could interchange either Sammi or Miriam, in any of the movies they've made lately, and not even miss a beat. Ever since "Needing You" became such a huge hit in HK, that's the only thing producers feel safe about making. The sad thing is, they will continue to do the same movie until it no longer makes money, or until the next block-buster comes along, and all movies will be cloned accordingly.

Reviewed by: happygolucky76 Date: 06/01/2002 Summary: Cute and Fun The movie is fun, but at the same time it has its serious moments. L.K. Kuen is Miriam's character's name again, but she is even more hilarious this time. She is innocent, but times demands things from her boss that most people would not ask especially when her position in the police station is quite low and may get fired at any moment. Daniel's character is the rich, nice guy that looks bad (probably b/c his hair is just not working for me). The supporting cast is funny especially the hunky Hung when he has to act like a money digging boyfriend of L.K. and gets his butt kicked a lot. The storyline maybe unbelieveable and overused, but its fun to watch and gets a laugh every time I watch it. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Yellow Hammer Date: 05/29/2002 Summary: hilarious movie Fun movie, loads of laughs. Don't have much to add since others have said it already. Charlene (Choi) and Gillian (Chung) are of course the members of the record-setting HK teeny-bopper group Twins. The real question is: Miriam has used the name Fong Lai Kuen in both Dummy Mommy.... and Love Undercover. Why is this same name used in both movies?

Reviewed by: lemoncola Date: 05/24/2002 Summary: Funnily Refreshing If you have seen the promos for the movie Love Undercover, then you know what you should be expecting. Love Undercover falls into the genre of comedy/romance. This movie stars Daniel Wu and Miriam Yeung. Miriam Yeung is very bubbly on and off camera. If you have seen Miriam in other movies, then you can predict her character in Love Undercover is not too different from her previous characters. It is very easy to like Miriam because she is just very adorably funny, witty and charming. In Love Undercover Miriam's character is called Ah Kuen and she failed in her police training. She is then put in the Lost and Found Department where the only excitement is seeing the flies or mosquitos being electricuted by the pest screen. She then is assigned to go undercover to get information from the son of a retired triad boss, named Ah Man (played by super gorgeous and super talented Daniel Wu). While undercover she begins to fall in love with Ah Man and all sorts of funny and crazy things happen. The story line is a bit messy, but it is not confusing. When you are watching this movie, you must watch it just to get laughs. If you over analyze it, then that loses the point of watching this movie. This movie was made purely for laughing and just to watch it for fun. The characters are not fully developed to 3-dimensional complex characters. You will get many unanswered questions, like why doesn't Ah Man ask Ah Kuen when her behavior is peculiar or weird. Some of the stuff she does is very police-like and he does not question her about those behaviors. Also he does not ask about her father, like what he does for a living, what happened to her mother. Why are her "brothers" (her fellow cops played by Wong Wai Man and Sam Mei) called Twins and their first names are Charlene and Gillian? I don't care for the answers to these questions because the movie doesn't answer them and I don't bother to ask them because I just watched the movie for laughs. And there were times when I was laughing so hard, I had a box of tissues with me. Especially the part where Ah Kuen is trying to seduce Ah Man. If you buy Love Undercover, you must get the DVD because the DVD contains: the making of the movie, lots of unseen footage, and a MTV which Miriam sings the movie's theme song. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: magic-8 Date: 05/23/2002 Summary: The Same Old Thing Caveat emptor. No matter what food you may love to eat, if you eat the same thing over and over again, you're bound to get sick of it. Joe Ma's "Love Undercover" is like too much of the same thing. In the world of Hong Kong movies, comedies are the current fad. These comedies started out as sick pups, weak insipid films that were more groans than guffaws. Then one day the comedies grew up and matured into amusing pieces that found audiences willing to swallow the hokum. If you haven't seen any of the recent comedies, you may find "Love Undercover" to be mildly entertaining. But, if you've taken in more than your share of the only genre-product coming out of Hong Kong then "Love Undercover" will push you over the edge and make you nauseous. "Love Undercover" is like visitors who have overstayed their welcome. The uninspired direction and second-rate acting and the all-too-familiar plot devices conspire to drive the viewer insane. If I don't ever again hear a cheesy melody played on a synthesizer, it will be too soon. I think they've been using the same synthesizer for the last 25 years in Hong Kong. Miriam Yeung and Daniel Wu seem to come from the Sammi Cheng School of mumbling on screen. The pair was as warm as a wet noodle at the bottom of a soup bowl. Miriam reverted to staring off into space, while Dan Wu was as believable as a thousand-year-old preserved duck egg. Joe Ma tried to make everyone in this film much too cute. So much so, that I gagged and forced myself not to blow chunks. For a comedy, "Love Undercover" was too long. There were many gaps without a laugh or relief from the tired script, which couldn't hold back the yawns. Joe Ma thought he could find something fresh from the same old recycled conventions. It's time for Hong Kong filmmakers to find another genre to exploit before viewers revolt at getting leftovers once again.

Reviewed by: sum_azn_gurl Date: 05/19/2002 Summary: Highly Recommended Love Undercover, a movie i watched at least 5 times, was a highly enjoyable movie. It was light and humorous. Miriam Yeung is perfectly fitted for this role and Daniel Wu was i guess pretty good for this role too. I have to admit though, that some of if repetitive. They go out, break up, decides to get married, breaks up (for like a few seconds) and then back together again, but its all good. Miriam Yeung doesnt take her character too seriously, but it was still good to watch. Who I thought was funny is Raymond Wong. He plays a number of roles but as one person. In my opinion, his parts are LOL funny, but thats just me. Over all, I recommend this movie for people that just wanna have a good time and not expecting anything too dramatic. Overall: 4/5 9/10 Reviewed by: Sum Azn Gurl Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: Stardust Date: 05/17/2002 Summary: A Simple Must-See Movie "Love Undercover" is a movie that I have been wanting to see for a while now. The reason why is because I really like to watch Miriam Yeung. Honestly, she can't really act, but she's real. Just seeing her will make viewers want to laugh. If you've seen "Dummy Mommy, Without A Baby", then you'll know what to expect from this movie. Most of the cast is the same and the theme is similar: an ordinary girl gets thrown into a mess of lies and gets out of trouble through luck. Cast-wise, the actors/actresses have chemistry. I was laughing throughout the whole movie as soon as Miriam came on in the first scene. However, don't expect professional acting from these people; they are here to provide corny jokes. Overall, the story is simple (and unrealistic). Don't expect alot out of this, instead, watch it purely for laughs. I loved it because I wasn't looking for a complicated story with real acting...I was looking for fun and laughs. Rating: 10/10 Reviewer Score: 10

Reviewed by: annelam Date: 04/23/2002 Summary: Fun but a little non-sensical If you are looking for a hilarious comedy which doesn't have much logic but not totally slapstick, "Love Undercover" is just perfect for a few laughs. The show starts off with Miriam as an undergraduate at the police academy. Somehow, I can't help but keep remembering the good ol Hollywood movie, "The Police Academy" at the beginning of the show. Hilirious remarks from the officer at the academy and the hi-tech version of swatting flies (to show that there's nothing to do) adds a lot of humour to the show. Don't bring too much logical thinking into this movie because I was questioning how come Daniel didn't suspect that Miriam was an undercover despite her terrible performances of a police trying to be a waitress. Leave that aside and you'll actually start laughing your hearts out as the -Spanner Project- (the mission) begins. One important thing to pay attention on is the dialogue. Most of the hilarious parts come from the actor's lines besides the funny actions. The part I particularly liked most was at the scene where Miriam was trying to seduce Daniel into going to bed with her. A must-watch performance definitely! I must say that this whole show is carried out to perfection by Miriam with Daniel being the pretty-boy only. With the exception of a few pretty lame and predictable jokes here and there, this comedy is a MUST-WATCH for a fun, laughing and a little non-sensical evening. 7/10 Reviewer Score: 7