Writer: Brian J. Chong

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"Baik Punya Cilok" is the much-anticipated movie from multi-talented Afdlin Shauki this past year and it does not disappoint. Prepare for laughs ahead as Afdlin Shauki, Hans Isaac, AC Mizal, and Awie make one helluva motley crew.

One thing that the lead guys have in common is that they are not new faces to the Malaysian public. Awie has been a household name for nearly two decades now with his rock group 'Wings' in the 80s and his stint as a solo artiste as well as an actor. Hans Isaac has been in movies like "Ringgit Kasorrga", the upcoming "Persona Non Grata" and "Buli Balik". Most recently, he was named one of the spokespersons of the apparel brand 'Yishion'. AC Mizal was the former frontman of 90's boyband 4U2C and was in "Gerak Khas: The Movie". Afdlin Shauki is of course well-known as one of our funniest local comedians ever (who knew he could sing and direct as well?! He directed "Buli" prior to this). All four of the main actors lend their voices for the main theme song of the movie. And I must say, they do sound good.

Afdlin Shauki directs and stars in this amusing tale about four best friends who collaborate to 'cilok' the wicked tauke Wong (Patrick Teoh) when he cheats one of the foursome out of a family heirloom at his pawnshop. Aben (Afdlin Shauki), Jerry (Hans Isaac), Bob (Awie), and Wak (AC Mizal) are relative nobodies and are trying to make it big by winning a fishing competition with a prize of RM25,000. They are joined by another close friend named Leman (Harun Salim Bachik) who wants to help the gang in order to get back at tauke Wong for some past grudge. The good thing about the foursome is that they have very distinct characters which are contrasting to each other.

Also featured in this movie is model-turned-actress Carmen Soo as tauke Wong's only daughter, Ida Nerina as a stern policewoman, and Harith Iskandar as a slow witted police inspector. While Ida and Harith's roles were rather small, Carmen's part in the movie was quite essential to the outcome of the adventure. Despite her forced malay onscreen, Carmen is bound to be one of Malaysia's future stars, be it onscreen or off. Patrick Teoh did a good job as the blind but evil tauke Wong.

The movie progresses in various flashback scenes which depict each character's point of view of a certain incident. What's unique about the flashbacks is that they are told in still picture format with dikir barat style dialogues to tell their story. Pretty original and smart. As for the running time of the movie however, I believe that it could have been shaved off a good ten to fifteen minutes to keep the pacing of the film tighter.

Conclusively, if you are a fan of Afdlin Shauki and his antics, this movie is for you. For people not familiar with Afdlin's work, this will be your chance to get your dose, and you will be tempted to go get his previous movie, "Buli". Available in stores near you.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008