Writer: Peter Chai

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Watch this if you liked: “Ah Beng The Movie: Three Wishes”

In real life, as human beings, it is really hard for us to make jokes during the difficult times. However, as a filmmaker, they are different from us. These people have the ability to make us laugh despite the harsh realities of life, which is why we watch their films, and Hong Kong director Patrick Yau's new dark comedy "3x Trouble" is exactly that.

"3x Trouble" is a close-to-your heart movie that leads you to a wild ride through the rough and hilarious journey of three close friends, Tian (Rynn Lim), a cowardly night market lingerie hawker, Hai (Jack Lim), a illegal DVD seller, and San, a kind electrical van driver. Due to a bad decision, the three friends are soon involved in a crime involving a mysterious woman (Landy Wen), and the trio now has to try everything they can to protect their loved ones from the numerous threats caused by a cold-blooded professional killer (Andrew Tan).

In a capitalist society, there are people who stay in luxurious houses, drive expensive cars, and overall live a laidback life without having to worry so much about one's financial circumstances which is equal to the word 'impossible' in the dictionary of the low-income community. Nevertheless, everyone has his own way to earn more money for a better life financially. Some people would just do honest work by following every law and rule set by the system while there are also a group of individuals who choose to go for short-cuts and inhumane acts in order to get fast money. In this movie, Yau had done a good job in illustrating this concept through the experiences faced by Tian, Hai and Wen.

Those who are crazy about Rynn Lim's singing talent would be surprised with his acting skills for his movie debut in "3x Trouble". Playing Tian, Lim is able to turn his gentle personality in real life into someone who is scared for many occasions and easily intimidated by life challenges on the silver screen. Throughout the story, you will witness his ability to be brave for his son as he tries to save him from the trouble that he created with his friends. Moreover, his cursing words in the dialogue are one of the highlights of the movie as it will make you remember the character.

You might be wondering how the production team could cast the charming Dai Yang Tian as the poor van driver as his image tells us he should be playing a filthy-rich gentleman. However, Dai manage to pull it off with his portrayal on the idea of humanity along the storyline with his character despite having a physical appearance and verbal expressions that are contrast to the traits of a broke worker.

The dark cinematography is not overdone in this comedy. You could straight away feel the main characters' guiltiness with the cinematographer's dark shooting technique.

Overall, the story of "3x Trouble" is good enough to give you a huge life lesson on the consequences of living against the law and it shows how desperate people can be when it comes to dealing with financial crises.

Cinema Online, 14 March 2012