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Mix and Match!

 Rempat (Wander, Malay; 2015)

This is a fun, no-brainer movie that combines all the idiosyncrasies that make Malaysia Malaysia. There is the popular Mamak shop, an odd Malay-Chinese misfit who seem to have problems communicating with each other, their penchant for football, perennial money issues and loan sharks.

The first scene of the film generally summarises the actual situation on the ground. Every small group is happy supporting their own foreign football team while watching live games on giant TV screens in their favourite bistro. Everybody is a maestro on how the game should be played, but for a nation whose citizens are so brilliant on the intricacies of scoring goals, it has a national team that nobody gives two hoots. Nobody wants to watch them play.

That is where our two heroes come in, Halim and Chin Chye. Halim is a true patriot who roots for the Malaysian team. Chin Chye, on the other hand, is also concerned about the local team, not because he is a supporter. He hopes that the Malaysian team will lose as he has placed a large bet for them to lose. So, when they changed the channel to watch the Malaysian team when the rest of the restaurant patrons wanted to watch the English Premier League, they got whacked and got booted out. 

Just as they freshen up after the beatings, the loan sharks from whom Chin Chye had taken a loan started whacking them again. Chin Chye (and Halim too, since he is together) get an ultimatum - make Malaysia lose in the next game, or die.

Chin Chye and Halim later discover that they are from the same neighbourhood, like it is always the case in most communities; nobody knows each other. It is all just a facade. Everyone just puts up a front. After 64 years after independence and living together since the 1930s, each acts as if he is a tourist learning the customs and culture of each other. This speaks so little of our national integration programmes that have been organised all these years. Guess it is all money down the proverbial drain.

Now, Halim too, has money issues. His girlfriend is wooed by her wealthy boss. And Halim has to propose her fast. He desperately needs money for that. Since his girlfriend has two VIP tickets to the next Malaysian game, he decided to help Chin Chye get to the game. In return, Halim is to get some money.

The rest of the story is a comedy of errors, Malaysian style. The venue is changed again and again due to structural damages. They have to hitch a ride for that. In the midst of all that, another rival loan shark is hot on their trail to stop them.

This is no artistic work of art, but it is worth a watch to remind us of some similar comedies that came out from the Malaysian film scene, e.g. Mekanik and Ali Setan. 


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Location: Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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