Review: To go ahead and get the formalities out of the way, and to do a favor for all of the lazy readers out there, Love on Delivery is pure Stephen Chow excellence. It ranks only a small notch below classics such as Shaolin Soccer and God of Cookery in my opinion.

The movie itself is so well put together, that there are absolutely no out of place jokes, and the story hooks the viewer from the fantastic opening to the hilarious climax.

The timing throughout is perfect. It’s a good thing, because I was actually expecting a lot out of this movie, due mostly to some very positive reviews I had read. I had been watching so many Stephen Chow period pieces at the time, and this movie made me realize that I like him a little better in “present-day” settings. He starts out really pathetic in this film, which is a huge contrast to a lot of his other roles in which he has played a huge asshole or a really confident playa.

Although I wouldn’t expect any less, the dynamic duo of Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat are pure magic in this movie. Ng Man Tat is an obvious con-man that lures the under-confident Chow into his mock martial arts school. He drains Chow’s cash flow by having him “donate” his money to “charity”. But even when he tries to tell Chow that he is a con-man, he won’t believe, because all of his ridiculous techniques seem to work really well. Tat’s character is second only to Chow’s in hilarity. He is such an incredibly huge bastard, but Stephen Chow looks up to him continuously throughout the feature. The main problem is, Stephen Chow can’t fight worth beans without wearing a mask. This results in the funniest moments of the film, where he fights the rival instructor wearing a huge smirking Garfield mask.

But now how will his love interest ever believe that it was him who fought for her hand? This becomes another major dilemma, as tons of lovesick jabronies don Garfield masks, claiming they were the savior of the supple Christy Chung. It is all finally settled with a formal fight to the death in a wrestling ring. This is by far one of the most bizarre fights I have ever witnessed, and it has to be seen to be believed.

Love on Delivery exemplifies what is great about Stephen Chow movies. It also proves that the magic doesn’t come from his slick direction alone (since he didn’t helm this film, among many others), but from himself as a comedy superstar. His style of humor can come off to some as pure slapstick, but in his greatest films, like this one, the jokes are much more. But I don’t think Stephen Chow could run a movie solo, as his films rely a lot on the way he plays off his excellent co-stars.

The movie’s direction is effective, and that’s all it needs to be. You don’t need artsy style pourin’ out your ass to direct a Chow flick, just point the camera at the golden god and let the magic happen. I think that any director with the power to mess up a Chow performance should be exalted as the true Satan, or a blubbering idiot.