Ko-Chen-Tung plays Ko-Teng, a boy who like every other secondary school boy has a crush on a vaguely pretty female class mate (Michelle Chen), rebels against school discipline, goofs off with his school buddies, and wanks in class…ok, maybe that last bit is just a wee bit atypical. The film documents his growth from high school to university and into his adult years, and while unevenly paced and hardly revelatory, manages to keep one passably engaged.
The film premise is a typical salad years exposition, albeit one peppered with penis jokes, slight nudity and some tasteless but strangely humourous sequences riffing on masturbation and teen male hormones. Loosely based on the literary coming-of-age narrative, the film veers between aptly catching certain elements of juvenile innocence and coming across as just immature, although that may well have been the intent of the director, around whose authentic childhood experiences the film is premised.
Overall, the execution of the film is technically sound, with a rather interesting stop-motion sequence, and some other manga-esque flourishes that fit in with the over-the-top camp of the movie. The acting, while not superb, is adequate, and the cast members possess a high enough level of chemistry to convince you that they are indeed childhood friends. Like the other aspects of the film, however, the casting could definitely have been tightened up, and the supporting cast better developed, rather than being relegated to the roles of ornamental stereotypes.
In conclusion, You Are The Apple Of My Eye accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to make us reflect and wax nostalgically on the carefree days of our youth. While it definitely has its flaws, such as the occasional overindulgence in lowbrow humour, the emotional authenticity of the film as a whole still manages to shine through.
SUMMARY: An unpretentious film about youth that will entertain without blowing you away.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Raphael Lim