Single father Wai-Tai-Hon (Eric Tsang) is unemployed and desperately seeking any job he can get. His family, headed by the daughter Chin-Wah (Miriam Yeung), knows nothing of this but are still instructed to save on everything, including the usage of soap. While looking for work he bumps into businesswoman Diana (Carol Cheng from Her Fatal Ways) and she offers him a chance to get on his feet again. She wants to create a fake family in order to get on the popular reality TV-show 'Frugal Game'. A game where the family who spends less wins and they're monitored 24 hours a day via cameras. Left with no choice the Wai family enters and starts competing against an equal moneyhungry family, the Lai's. Let the saving begin...

The most clever thing about Frugal Game is having the title of it appear 13 minutes into it. Sense a disappointment in that sentence? Well, you're not wrong because Derek Chiu's movie is a bit of a disappointment. To make fun of reality TV nowadays isn't easy because it has become parody in itself. The scriptwriters realizes that and chooses not to parody it extensively throughout. Lee Biu Cheung and Fung Chi Keung make the point that any concept can turn into one of these terrible shows and unfortunately THAT IS reality (Meet my folks - what a joke).

There's positive and negative aspects to talk about but the latter overpowers the former sadly. Being a Derek Chiu movie, the narrative is injected with a pleasant quirky atmosphere mildly reminiscent of earlier movies of his and the sometimes frenetic camera language also generates amusing moments. The different segments where the participants are trying out ways to lessen their costs are funny enough and it seems like it's here Derek is putting in more effort. In particular the restaurant scene where their cheapness backfires on them is very successful in combining score and editing with the images.

The material dealt with has more potential than what's mentioned above but the writing doesn't allow for any real cleverness to make itself seen. That puts Derek in a more difficult position and he hasn't the confidence, on this project, to make flawed writing better filmmaking. Already from the top the plot setup defies logic to a certain extent. Especially in the way Diana convinces Wai Tai-Hon and his family to take part of 'Frugal Game'. There was need for either an additional scene or more lines to make us fully understand what his reasons truly were. Sure, his family needed the money but I still felt something was missing here.

The cast of characters comes off as rather flat and lifeless also. We spend the most time with the Wai family and while you have very likable actors portraying them, only Eric Tsang manages to bring out greater character moments. Inside he's clearly opposed to the idea of having his family exposed like this and we see some sweeter scenes where he must choose what's best for his family. Miriam Yeung have developed a charming screen persona through movies like Love Undercover but there's very little signs of it in Frugal Game. The reason for that is because of the one big mistake the movie does, letting Yeung be a secondary character. Instead Carol Cheng is the leading lady and she has no problems portraying this unsympathetic Diana character but in my view she doesn't carry the movie very well. Here someone like Miriam could've moved things along better with her personality but she's given little do sadly. Frugal Game second half focuses more on the characters, which would be seen as a good thing had we cared more for them. The romance developing between Miriam and Eason feels empty and the behind the scenes intrigue fails to interest this viewer. At 100 minutes it is a bit too long but the cameo appearance by Ti Lung by the end made me smile anyway.

I would've liked to see more of the other family competing against the Wai's, the Lai's. Head of that bunch is Wayne Lai (Visible Secret) and he makes the most out of his limited screentime. The actors do seem to enjoy themselves as evident in the NG (bloopers) takes that are in the movie. Shame though that the acting and comedy is in the end nothing more than sporadically enjoyable. Want to add that I think Eason Chan is slowly gaining better screen presence. He plays an ambitious television director here and later in the movie he recruits an older martial arts actor (Ti Lung) for one of his dream projects. Eason has yet gotten the chance to do complex characters but I see potential, more than I can say about the majority of male pop stars in the acting field.

Fans of Derek Chiu will see a few glimpses of his touches in Frugal Game and he's more than welcome to try out this genre again. This attempt is fairly enjoyable but with more depth put in at the script stage, this satire could've been more effective.

After the father (Tsang) loses his job and is plunged into financial uncertainty, the Wei family is handed an intriguing lifeline by unemployed businesswoman Diana (Cheng): they will pretend to be a family of four and then take part in the new Hong Kong reality/gameshow 'Frugal Game'. Although the father and Diana are rivals from their time in the economic world together, their differences are loosely patched up and they apply for the show. The rules are simple: two families of four must exist for one week on the paltry sum of HK$400; accomodation is provided, but food must be paid for and 'luxuries' such as showers will cost them too; at the end of the week the winners will be those who have the most money remaining. At first both parties are quite comfortable with the concept and manage to survive ease through the first day. However, as the money ebbs away and the home comforts are sorely missed, temptation lures both families into breaking the rules. Thankfully the Wei family's daughter (Yeung) is guided by the show's ambitious director Tsui (Chan) who begins to favour her family and, away from the prying eyes of the numerous cameras, feeds her. The growing feelings between the two are quickly noticed by 'Frugal Game's producer who sees the possibilities of increased ratings and decides to use their relationship for this purpose.

Far removed from the heavy drama and introspection of 'Time 4 Hope', Derek Chiu's 'Frugal Game' is a further sign of the director's growing confidence in all genres. Grouping together a cast that is well versed in local comedies, this amusing - though never hilarious - satire offers smooth and slick entertainment. The fact of the matter is, however, that 'Frugal Game' doesn't really display Chiu's genuine talents. Naturally his direction is consistent and shows that he can cope with a big production, but the subtle strokes that made 'Sealed With A Kiss', 'Comeuppance' and 'Love Au Zen' so powerful are missing here. The relationship between Miriam Yeung and Eason Chan is not properly defined and staggers from one scene to another. This mixes uncomfortably with the satirical tones of the film. 'Frugal Game' does benefit from Yeung's enjoyable presence and a few excellent characters. Foremost among these is Eason Chan's portrayl of director Tsui who longs to make a kung fu epic instead of being stuck in the world of daytime television. His passion for putting outrageous camerawork and kung-fu touches in the show is one of the highlights. Added to this is a brief, but exceptional cameo by Ti Lung who plays a famous martial arts actor and hands out pithy advice to Tsui near the end of the film. Lung's gentle, yet affectionate parody of many of his Shaw Brothers' characters will stoke up the nostalgia in many. 'Frugal Game' is a pleasant comedy that stands out of the rest of the market because of its odd glimpse of invention. Nevertheless, it is hoped that Derek Chiu doesn't abandon the style that made him such a promising film-maker.