Romantic road-trip flick is one bumpy ride

Romantic road-trip flick is one bumpy ride

3 PEAS IN A POD (NC16)

Youth-romance/90 minutes

Rating: 2.5/5

University student Penny (Singapore newbie Jae Liew) is on tenterhooks as she takes a deep breath before looking at her examination-result slip.

Much like the young leading lady in a scene from the movie 3 Peas In A Pod, Singapore actress-turned-director Michelle Chong must be anticipating the reception to her second feature film with bated breath.

After all, the 36-year-old's latest film has much to live up to after the success of her directorial debut, Already Famous, in 2011.

The love story of an entangled trio in 3 Peas unfolds over the course of a road trip in Australia.

However, Chong's sophomore film turns out to be a rather bumpy ride. This is especially so when the plot takes an abrupt, miscalculated turn towards the end that leaves viewers bewildered.

Still, one must give credit to Chong for a different take from the light-hearted Already Famous.

Veering from the local flavour of her first movie, Chong went international in 3 Peas by filming in Australia, casting actors of diverse nationalities and going with a universally identifiable love story.

The international elements serve as a double-edged sword that has worked against and for the movie.

The plot plays out in classic youth-romance fashion, where the three leads - Peter, Penny and Perry - are caught in a love triangle.

Singaporean student Penny has her eyes on rich Korean stud Peter (former Korean boy band U-Kiss member Alexander Lee Eusebio).

Completing the triangle is soft-spoken Taiwanese A-star student Perry (Calvin Chen of Mandopop group Fahrenheit), who seems to have a thing for Penny.

Casting Lee and Chen as the film's leading men was a good move to rope in their respective fanbases.

Audiences will surely be able to feel the angst of young love in the film.

But the universal spirit of the home-grown movie is one that is all too familiar and reminiscent of other coming-of-age flicks such as China's So Young (2013) and Taiwan's Girlfriend, Boyfriend (2012).

The greatest takeaway from the international fare is the idyllic setting of the road trip.

The $1.7-million movie offers the audience a visual spectacle of Australia's breathtaking scenery, from the azure skies over The Great Ocean Road to sunrise over Prospect Hill.

That is probably the film's saving grace from a tried-and-tested formula.

nggwen@sph.com.sg


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