Mr. Coconut

Mr. Coconut (Chinese: 合家歡; Pinyin: hé jiā huān) is a 1989 Hong Kong Chinese New Year film directed by Clifton Ko, it stars Michael Hui, Raymond Wong Pak-ming, Ricky Hui, Olivia Cheng and Joey Wong. The film ran in theaters from 21 January 1989 until 6 February 1989. The film depicts society's immigration problem, telling the cultural differences and contradictions between the lives of the mainlanders and Hong Kong people. The movie was a box office success.

Mr. Coconut
DVD cover
Traditional合家歡
Simplified合家欢
Mandarinhé jiā huān
Cantonesehap6 gaa1 fan1
Directed byClifton Ko
Produced byClifton Ko
Written byClifton Ko
Raymond Wong
Michael Hui
StarringMichael Hui
Raymond Wong
Ricky Hui
Olivia Cheng
Joey Wong
Simon Yam
Tony Leung Ka-fai
Maria Cordero
Music byRichard Yuen
CinematographyKa Ko Lee
Jingle Ma
Edited byWong Yee-Shun
Production
company
Hui's Film Production Co., Ltd.
Release date
  • 21 January 1989 (1989-01-21) (Hong Kong)
  • 6 February 1989 (1989-02-06) (Taiwan)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK $31,246,945

Plot

The film centers around Ngan Kwai-Na (Michael Hui) who lives in Hainan Island, is used to the culture of villages and simple life that villagers have. One day, he gets a letter form his sister Ping (Olivia Cheng) and visits his sister in Hong Kong, as he endures the modern culture and the Hong Kong streets of the late 1980s.

Cast
  • Michael Hui as Ngan Kwai-Nam (雁歸南) - mainland villager
  • Raymond Wong Pak-ming as Wong Ka-Fan (黃嘉範) - shoe store manager, Kwai-Nam's brother-in-law
  • Olivia Cheng as Ping (雁燕萍) - Kwai-Nam's sister, married to Ka-Fan
  • Chan Cheuk Yan as Skinny (奀珠) - Ka-Fan and Ping's daughter
  • Ricky Hui as Lime (經紀拉) - manager, later insurance salesman
  • Joey Wong as Ling (黃嘉玲) - flight attendant, Ka-Fan's sister
  • Simon Yam as Timothy Hui (許公子) - son of a rich family, Ling's crush
  • Maria Cordero as Miss Ma (老闆娘) - owner of the shoe store Ka-Fan worked at
  • Tony Leung Ka-fai as Bush (高富帥) - Joey's boyfriend, short cameo and only mentioned at the end of the movie
  • San Wong as Mr Hui (許先生) - Timothy's father
  • Sin Huang Tam as Miss Hui (許太太) - Timothy's mother
  • Lowell Lo as Fengshui expert on TV
  • Pak-Kwong Ho as Taoist priest
  • Ken Boyle as insurance company manager - Mandarin dubbing
  • Yung-kuang Lai as Insurance company worker
  • Fan Hui as Building Cleaner
  • Catherine Lau as Miss Ma's maid
  • Ernst Mausser as plane passenger at Bombay airport
  • Simon Yip as buffet customer
  • Clifton Ko as television show host (cameo)
  • Fennie Yuen as subway passenger (cameo)
  • Hsiu-Ling Lu as girl at railway station (cameo)
  • Loletta Lee as television shampoo commercial girl (cameo)
  • Pauline Kwan as party guest girl (cameo)
  • Yonfan as annoyed buffet customer (cameo)
  • Wing-Cho Yip as tofo seller (cameo)
  • Elsie Chan as shoe store customer (cameo)

Critical response

"This is a somewhat funny Hong Kong comedy......there are several hits and misses in this film due to the slow plot and few redeeming qualities in the cast.....there are some funny slapstick comedy and classic Hong Kong humor that may generate some laugh-out-loud moments......It's not a bad film overall, just a tad slow." ------ IMDb (6.5/10 based on 136 user reviews) [1]

"There is a lot to appreciate director Clifford Ko in this film as he simply allows Hui to showcase his scene by scene talent........this film is simply a reflection of that cultural difference, the condemning of money minded insurance companies, rich and poor gap and the nature of workers and bosses." ----- HK Neo Reviews [2]

On the Chinese movie review website, Douban, it received an average rating of 7.4 out of 10 based on 3691 user reviews.[3]

Awards and nominations
Awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome
9th Hong Kong Film Awards[4] Best Actor Michael Hui
Nominated
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References
  1. Mr. Coconut, retrieved 26 November 2019
  2. "Mr. Coconut 合家歡 (1989) – Hong Kong | HK Neo Reviews". Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  3. "合家欢 (豆瓣)". movie.douban.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. "Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor", Wikipedia, 15 April 2019, retrieved 27 November 2019
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