'5 Sehat 4 Sempurna': A desperate attempt at hip comedy
Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta
5 Sehat 4 Sempurna (Healthy Five, Perfect Four); Comedy, 114 minutes (** out of ****); Starring Fathir Muchtar, Rena Tabitha, Ivan Gunawan, Jaeim Rosadi; Directed by Richard Buntario; A Broadcast Design Indonesia Production; in Bahasa Indonesia.
Indonesian movie audiences should be grateful for the release of a comedy, the first since local film production began to reemerge in 2000.
Just as a reminder, to name a few, we already have children's film Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure), art house movie Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands), horror flick Jelangkung, historical epic Ca Bau Kan, teen romance Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (What's Up with Cinta?), and adult drama Eliana, Eliana.
Diversity in the genre of recent releases should be seen as a sign that our infant film industry is heading toward the right creative direction.
If only we could say the same about the quality.
Richard Buntario should be awarded the Most Confident Film Director by claiming that he has invented a new genre, the so- called "urban pop comedy", with this feature directorial debut of his.
The long-time music video director said that only those who have or had been living in the city would get the jokes contained in this latest offering from the Indonesian film lineup.
He also claimed that the humor would be different from the usual jokes Indonesian audiences have become accustomed to, such as those from famous local comedy group Srimulat, which offers a combination of slapstick and intentional mispronunciation of words.
Unfortunately, Richard gives us nothing but hot air with this achingly unfunny misfire.
The movie, whose title is a play on the wording used in long- established government propaganda regarding healthy eating habits, is as corny as its title may suggest.
It opens with an embarrassing scene that is guaranteed to make anyone who has had at least one Friday night out drop their jaw in disbelief.
The so-so storyline revolves around a group of nine young people, five males and four females who, after playing pool, end up making a bet between the sexes.
It goes like this: one of the boys, played by Fathir, must get back to his ex-girlfriend whom he has dumped before, while a girl from the group (Rena), must get a date with a supposedly famous American pop star named John Doe who is on tour in the city. The loser must treat the other to a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Even for a brainless comedy, the plot could not be more contrived than this.
The movie then proceeds with fart jokes and the audiences will soon realize that the movie is trying to be an Indonesian version of American Pie.
The latter has a charming ensemble cast delivering countless amusing jokes, but all that 5 Sehat 4 Sempurna can offer is annoying, overacting performers.
It seems pointless that there are nine principal characters in this movie as they all act out their roles in a similar, irritating way.
The lame effort at defining characters includes a blatant rip- off of the girls in the highly successful Ada Apa dengan Cinta?, in which one girl poses as a butch character.
The situation is also made worse by actors adlibbing their lines in a pathetic attempt to be funny.
It does feel though that the movie progresses as it goes along, probably due to the horrible start.
Some jokes actually work; most come from androgynous Ivan Gunawan, who manages to lift up the movie to a watchable level. Other funny scenes still involve drag jokes, which seems to be the kind of humor local audiences enjoy so much.
Attempts at situational comedy seldom work in locally produced movies and TV shows as it requires a good writer to pull it off. Mostly, they end up finding out that the joke is on them.
One of the exceptions was a hilarious comedy released in 1987, Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap (Chase Me, I'll Catch You), directed by Chaerul Umam and cleverly written by Asrul Sani. The film's success was due to the filmmakers' understanding that a character need not be lame-brained to be funny and a joke should not be about people making jokes about other people.
Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about 5 Sehat 4 Sempurna. And the filmmakers must have targeted the wrong audience if they expect the hip will go for this.