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Review | Pass and Goal movie review: Gigi Leung leads football-themed Hong Kong family comedy
Pass and Goal, starring Gigi Leung and newcomer Chau Tsz-yuet, defies expectations with its feel-good story, good acting and funny dialogue
Reading Time:2 minutes
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3.5/5 stars
The prospect of Pass and Goal is not immediately appealing. A football-themed comedy with an old-fashioned premise about staying true to oneself, it features a modest cast that includes several inexperienced child actors and is directed by the filmmaker behind abysmal comedies like Lucky Fat Man (2017) and Love Detective (2015).
Yet, to echo a key message from Jil Wong Pak-kei’s latest film, a match is seldom won or lost in the first half. And so it proves here, as this feel-good, family-friendly offering defies expectations with its infectious positivity and cheeky humour.
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With a contrived set-up that is barely elaborated on, Pass and Goal sees once-successful financial consultant Fong Hay-man (Gigi Leung Wing-kei) reluctantly give up her Deep Water Bay mansion and move into a cramped Sham Shui Po flat with distant relatives after losing her fortune in a crypto market crash.
Why does Fong have no one to turn to but the family of her young, football-loving cousin Ying (Chau Tsz-yuet), who does not even remember her? It soon becomes clear that the background of this houseguest is immaterial to Wong and screenwriter Ambrose Kwok Yat-choi (Unleashed) compared to the farcical situation that awaits her.
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