Already Famous runs us through a fish-out-of-water premise, telling the story of Lim Ka Kiao (Chong), your stereotypical Malaysian kampung girl who strives to fulfill her dream of becoming a Singaporean television star. Her quest for fame leads her across the causeway, where she runs into love interest Ah Seng (Huang), coffee shop boy with coffee tycoon aspirations. Along the way, she also runs into an array of improbable interactions with various local personalities, who play themselves in an unending pastiche of cameos.
Sadly, it`s that last bit that ultimately causes Already Famous to falter in its execution: while a movie that seeks to depict the local acting circuit must necessarily feature local celebs, the sheer excess of cameos by personalities playing themselves makes Already Famous seem less like a film than a museum exhibit of the local scene. Here`s Samuel Seow (Seow). Look, there`s Sylvester Sim (Sim). Oh, here`s drag queen extraordinaire Kumar (Kumar)… The concept, while charming at first, soon starts to feel redundant, and by the end of the film is unlikely to entertain anyone except the entertainers themselves.
The humour in the script is mediocre at best. Thankfully though, Michelle Chong`s talent for impersonation is on full display as the endearing, ludicrously accented Ka Kiao, whose interactions with other off-colour, ludicrously accented characters is bound to appeal to fans of The Noose and those with a taste for broad caricature. What distinguishes Michelle Chong`s performance here, however, is not merely her knack for humour, but also the credible amount of emotion that she is able to inject into what would be an otherwise lightweight film.
That being said, Already Famous may be a worthwhile watch not purely for its middling entertainment value, but also for those interested in the inner workings of the local media industry. It tells its story not from the lofty perspective of A-list talent, but from the grind and drudge of extras clawing their way to the top. If you`re the struggling musician/entertainer/actor/artist type, there`s probably going to be a lot here to empathise with. After all, like AC/DC said: `It`s a long way to the top/if you`re gonna rock n` roll`.
Almost, rather than Already.
Rating: **1/2 Raphael Lim