The script, written by Raymond Wong (who also stars), centers around one family, and takes them from the eldest son's wedding anniversary to the anniversary of his parents a couple of months later. Structured around three brothers, All's Well, End's Well has three concurrent story lines: Wong's marital woes, brought to a head by his cheating; Chow's womanizing and the strange, film-obsessed woman (Maggie Cheung) who turns her obsession on him; and Leslie Cheung's rivalry with a tomboy aunt. In the latter story line, both Cheung and the aunt (Teresa Mo) are clearly gay, though no one ever says. Cheung is actually pretty entertaining as the effeminate flower arranger, but given his tragic suicide in 2003, the fact that the film ends with the two "curing" each other by having sex left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

Not that the rest of the film was much of a treat. When it was watchable at all, it was thanks to the charismatic stars. Stephen Chow and Maggie Cheung have some very sweet moments together, though I think the regular use of the word "rape" was a mistranslation that hurt the romantic angle. They indulge in parodies of popular movies of the day--the funniest is seeing Cheung dressed as Madonna from Truth or Dare, conical breasts and all--making this by far the most successful of the stories, with Chow eventually feigning madness to get out of his romantic entanglement; yet, it's also indicative of what is wrong with All's Well, End's Well. While director Clifton Ko flirts with the sort of audacious spoofing that Chow has since become known for, he shies away from taking the comedy to its most audacious limit. So, the film merely skirts the edge of Naked Gun territory, landing somewhere along the lines of what you used to be able to find on the USA Network at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night.

Plus, a lot of All's Well, End's Well simply isn't funny. People with their heads stuck in the dryer and endless off-key karaoke performances just don't get the laughs. Wong gives himself the worst story line, and every time Ko cuts away from Chow and Cheung, I found myself wishing I could just hit fast forward.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Though All's Well, End's Well may have some gung-ho early performances by some of the bigger Chinese stars, their talent is wasted on a pretty dismal script. While die-hard fans of any of the actors may consider renting it, my general advice is that you Skip It.

Foon (Chow) is a wildly popular disc jockey who commands a legion of adoring female listeners and uses his airplay to woo yet more. One particular caller, Miss Holliyok (Maggie Cheung) manages to get Foon's attention due to her obvious beauty and bizarre obsessions with different Hollywood films. Although he tries to win her affections, the arrogant lethario's superficial ways and flirtations fail to impress her. However, a strange accident renders Foon temporarily insane and leaves Holliyhok thinking about her true feelings for the man who has surprisingly endeared himself to her. Meanwhile, his brothers are also facing major decisions in their lives after recent events; his older brother's wife has walked out after years of poor treatment while his other brother finds himself battling the overtly butch auntie who has come to visit. By the end of the film's duration, each brother has not only realised who their perfect partner really is, but also discovered some important lessons about their own inadequacies.

Clifton Ko is an old-hand at these Chinese New Year ensemble comedies and once again throws together the elements that had previously hit such a chord with local audiences. The use of the term 'throw together' isn't accidental though as the film displays much of the chaotic discord that is often bemoaned by critics of Hong Kong comedy. There's no doubt that some of the Hollywood pastiches do hit the mark and raise the odd smile, but these are spread too thinly to be sustained throughout the full 90 minute duration. For those unfamiliar with some of the typical conventions of this family comedy, 'All's Well That Ends Well' may be a jarring experience; Clifton Ko doesn't make any excuses for mixing extravagant humour with a heavy dollop of sentimentality. However, it's hard to dislike a film comedy that tries to have a positive message as is presented here, no matter how convoluted it sometimes feels.

'All's Well That Ends Well' is not a 'Chow Sing Chi Film' per se - its impressive cast means that even a star of Chow's magnitude is not allowed to dominate things for too long. It is this attempt to give equal running time to everyone that highlights another department where the film is found wanting i.e. its lack of focus. There's still enjoyment to be had in this Hong Kong comedy though as long as the potential viewer is willing to forgive its various shortcomings. Scrapes into three stars, but two and a half would be more appropriate.

What a stellar cast this Chinese New Year production boasts! With a list headed by Stephen Chow (Hong Kong's foremost funny man), Maggie Cheung (who does excel at comedy as well as drama and falling down stairs), Leslie Cheung (a truly multi-talented performer), Sandra Ng (another versatile Hong Kong actress), Raymond Wong (who also co-directed this effort) and Teresa Mo (someone I would like to see more of; who also appeared in John Woo's last Hong Kong work), it actually is small wonder that this zany movie was the second -- only to "Justice, My Foot!" -- highest grossing film at the Hong Kong Box Office(s) in 1992; drawing more crowds and financially outperforming such esteemed works as "Swordsman II" (8th on that year's list), "Police Story III: Supercop" (10th), "Dragon Inn" (16th), "Once Upon a Time in China" I and II (17th and 12th respectively), and "Hard Boiled" (18th).

In ALL'S WELL, ENDS WELL: Stephen Chow's Foon Foon is a womanizing deejay, one of whose attempted conquests is a Hollywood movie-mad Miss Hollyok (played by Maggie Cheung, whose first appearance is in a pointy metal bra Madonna get-up!); Raymond Wong takes on the role of a man who treats his wife (regardless of what form she comes in -- that of Sandra Ng or another actress whose name I do not know) like a servant, preferring to have fun with his mistress (ditto); while Leslie Cheung is the nice girlish boy-man who dotes on his ugly duckling sister-in-law (Ng) and chastises his brothers (Chow and Wong) for their general ill-treatment of women but very much dislikes a (distant?) female relative of his played by the usually perky Teresa Mo. Since all three brothers continue to live in the same house with their parents (a not unusual situation among East Asians), characters meet and stories do intermingle somewhat.

In a nutshell: This Clifton Ko- and Raymond Wong-helmed work is a prime example of those thoroughly eager-to-please -- sometimes to the point of surreal ridiculousness (cf. "The Eagle Shooting Heroes"!) – efforts that seems to characterize Chinese New Year offerings from the Hong Kong movie world. If you are the kind of person who is happy to star-gaze, and to watch people happily acting silly, then this extremely light-hearted movie will suit you fine. Another factor in this lightweight production's favor is that while its plot is quite lacking (the film often feels like a series of loose sketches), it truly is gag-filled. But IMHO, the true gauge(s) of how you will respond to ALL'S WELL, ENDS WELL may well lie in whether you find the following -- which REALLY do all take place in this film -- to be hysterically funny or amusing (or just plain weird):

Scenes of a temporarily insane Stephen Chow being in love with – and (consequently?) drinking his own urine from -- his bedpan...Chow and Maggie Cheung twice (thrice? I must confess that my mind was so boggled by then that I might have forgotten to count!) performing the Double Inverted Eiffel Tower Kissing Technique...Miss Hollyok and Foon Foon attempting to live -- as well as act -- out scenes from such Hollywood productions as "Ghost", "Pretty Woman" and "Misery"...a butch Teresa Mo clashing with -- at one point, using a baseball bat on – and threatening to rape the father of a truly effeminate-acting (flower-arranging class teaching, lantern weaving!) Leslie Cheung...and Sandra Ng playing and transforming from Raymond Wong's homely, parsimonious, Karaoke-croaking wife into an attractive club girl.

My own feeling is that this movie has both inspired but also lame moments. It also is undoubtedly so that while ALL'S WELL, ENDS WELL is enjoyable enough, most -- if not all -- of the individuals involved have done quite a few better things. As such, I must admit to being somewhat disappointed that this major box office success -- which has gone on to spawn at least two similarly titled semi-sequels -- is as uneven as it generally is, even while acknowledging that there were times when it not unpleasantly made me more feel more light-headed than I have been for a while...