Thursday, April 26, 2012

"Daddy Good Deeds" Review


While "Daddy Good Deeds" doesn't offer anything much besides simple entertainment, it is still a fun and humorous series.  No breakthroughs were made here, but I unexpectedly found myself quite enjoying it.

The key to "Daddy Good Deeds" turning out to be enjoyable was that it was a light family series, reminiscent of the warm family series like "Family Man" from the good old days of TVB.  While it can't compare to "Family Man", I like that it's just a comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously.  Once you remove the excessive and unnecessary family feuding of series like "Moonlight Resonance", I actually quite like family series for their sweetness and warmth.

The series is silly, but manages to still be funny without becoming too over the top and ridiculous.  It doesn't try to preach anything, but still offers good morals. Additionally, the rhyming of the dialogue's lines were witty and upbeat.  All the pop culture references were funny too!

The whole cast performed decently.  Ha Yu once again pulls off the father figure with warmth.  Linda Chung proves to be endearing and likable when she's not forced to cry in every episode.  Evergreen Mak and Nancy Wu were definitely mismatched as a married couple, but still performed well with what they were given.  Even Cilla Kung, whose acting could even be described as cringe worthy in the past, was surprisingly natural, adorable, and lovable.  What anchors and makes "Daddy Good Deeds" so fun though, are superb performances from Steven Ma and Edwin Siu.  It is definitely Steven and Edwin who are the shining stars here!


Steven's character may have not been high profile, but managed to be his most memorable and lovable role in years.  "Fat Dat Gor" is a breath of fresh air from Steven's recent boring and righteous roles.  He is caring and generous, but knows when to stand up and think for himself as well.  He's not ridiculously selfless, which makes him realistic.  Steven finally gets to bring a great character to life again, giving "Fat Dat Gor" the humor, charm, and sincerity. This was a fantastic way to end his TVB career with a bang - though I hope this is not his last TVB series ever.  Watching Steven in such a wonderful character and performance again makes me love and miss the respectable actor even more.

Edwin continues to slowly rise in popularity and status again, and it's all deserved.  He's played some more minor supporting roles since his return to TVB, but gets to shine here.  "Ah Yap" is such an adorable, endearing, and unique character and Edwin was the perfect young actor to play him with his cute charm and liveliness.  He has vastly improved and proved his comedic timing here, and is therefore already my choice for this year's Most Improved Actor.  The character seemed to experience an abrupt change, in terms of wardrobe and personality (he became less goofy and more intelligent as the series went on), but I didn't mind too much since Edwin pulled it all off so well.  I hope he keeps becoming more successful and gets to portray more great roles!


Besides Steven and Edwin's individual performances, the next best thing was hands down their bromance together.  They made such convincing and cute "brothers"/good friends!  The "broke back mountain" scene was hilarious.  They genuinely seemed like the close friends they were supposed to be.  I loved how even when they fought for Linda, they played fair and maintained their maturity, as well as still looking out and thinking for each other.

Steven, Edwin, and Linda's friendship was also very sweet and enjoyable.  I loved how they were so supportive and helpful to each other.  The scene where Edwin and Steven pretended to be Linda's boyfriend at the police station in front of Awesome Sir was too funny and cute.  Linda retained her likability all through out here, and it was cute watching them fall for each other.

Conclusion

"Daddy Good Deeds" is not amazing and had some more boring moments, but is notable for performances from Steven and Edwin, and there are lots of hilarious moments.  I can't remember the last time I laughed so much in a recent TVB series.  It's silly, but not stupid or lame.  It may not be for everyone, but I recommend it to someone who wants some good hearted fun and a couple laughs.  I love Steven and Edwin even more after watching this, and others probably will too.  They make it worth watching.

Rating: 3 stars

6 comments:

  1. Great review!

    This series was actually a breath of fresh air for me because it had been such a long time since I had watched a genuinely funny series that didn't resort to OTT slapstick tactics to get a laugh...best of all, the series didn't try too hard to be purposefully funny, which is the type of series I like because the humor is so much more natural.

    I actually have to praise the scriptwriters for the awesome rhyming dialogue in this series, which was done well and was not overwhelming...and yes, I agree regarding the pop culture references -- I got many a good laugh at some of the references, especially the ones about artists I know and also about everyday things such as medicines, etc.

    Lastly, absolutely agree with you regarding your assessment of the cast's performances, especially those of Steven and Edwin. I normally can't stand Linda in any series (and since this one aired not too long after L'Escargot, which left a bad taste in my mouth in terms of Linda's character), but I actually found her tolerable in here (though in my opinion, it's primarily because Steven and Edwin 'carried' her and brought out the best in her).

    Overall great light-hearted series -- a much needed break from all the dramatic series that I've been watching lately...LOL.

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    1. Good to see you commenting again, llwy12!

      Yes, DGD, though silly at times, is the first comedy by TVB in a while that didn't feel like it was trying so hard. It rarely seemed forced.

      The dialogue indeed was very fun! It wasn't too much, but its presence was felt and witty. Haha, usually their constant pop culture references in family series are ridiculous, but they fit quite well here! Very amusing.

      Yes, Steven and Edwin probably contributed in making Linda more likable. At the same time, she had a simple and sweet character here that didn't cry all the time. Unlike Steven and Edwin's characters though, she was relatively static through out the whole series.

      Yeah, there have been a couple comedies released recently, but not actually funny. DGD was a good break from all the drama though. This is TVB's best comedy in a while. :)

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  2. the long awaited review of Daddy good Deeds! Haha definitely agree with everything you say!

    At first I didn't have much expectation for this either...because tvb comedies usually turn out really lame. DGD was definitely a nice change. Steven is always so great in comedies (the other being Better Halves) ;) And Edwin, one of the few rising stars I'm liking!

    thanks for the review Iris ;D

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    1. Nice to see you in the comments section again! ;)

      Proves once again not having expectations can help you enjoy series more. Hehe, yes, Edwin is my soft spot. xD He's too cute, and has improved so much.

      You're welcome, and thanks for the support. :)

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  3. true true, it's a pretty enjoyable series that is about nothing but all the mundane (though heartwarming) things in life. for me, Edwin is THE star of the show. he's so funny and lovable as Ah Yap! as for Steven, I've always liked him and thinks he always competently portrayed all is TVB characters. if i am forced to choose, i feel he's better in ancient series.

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    1. Hey! Always nice to see you in the comments section. You should be more active on Twitter so we can talk about our American and TVB series more! :D

      Yes, Edwin is definitely the star of the show. I love and support the guy, but didn't expect him to have this much comedic talent and timing! He was hilarious and so adorable. IMO, he's definitely the rising "siu sang" with the most potential. Looking forward to what else he has in store for us this year.

      Definitely agree about your comment on Steven! Some young actors do a decent job in ancient series, but Steven has always struck me as someone who could actually pass as a person living during ancient times. The fact that he says his lines with force helps.

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