4 Madu
My rating:




Y'know, I'm a regular over at the We Hate Razak Mohaideen Movies page on Facebook, but I've only ever seen one of the man's films. He actually had another movie come out earlier this year, but I missed out on it; apparently it did so poorly at the box office that it only ran for less than 2 weeks. Like, ouch, man. But clearly, a man with his own Facebook hate page is a man who has made a mark on the local film landscape. Even if it's just a drainage ditch. So this is only my second film that he's directed, by which perhaps I can find an answer to the question: ada apa dengan Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen?

The answer is that he sucks. But if he deserves a hate page, then so does the entire industri filem Melayu.

Azlan and Azrul (Saiful Apek in a dual role) are long-lost brothers reunited upon the death of their father, who has a RM160 million fortune to bequeath to them - under certain conditions. As conveyed by their father's lawyer Dato' Rahim (Dato' Rahim Razali), both of them must marry four wives - an orphan; a blind woman; a divorcee; and, um, one more, whoever they like - one after the other, within stipulated deadlines. So it becomes a contest between them to fulfill their the conditions of the will. Azlan is accompanied by his friend Budi (Iedil Putra Alaudin) and Dato' Rahim's assistant Jaja (Almy Nadia), and marries Suriati (Rosnah Mat Aris), Ros (Fasha Sandha) the love of his life (kononnya), Jane (Sazzy Falak) and Zarra (Marsha Milan Londoh). Whereas Azrul is aided by Juju (Allana Amir) and marries Latifah (Ayu Raudhah), Weena (Bienda), Jaja (who, um, switches over to Team Azrul), and his first wife Ghasidah (Rozita Che Wan). Ain't polygamy grand?

Well, it's an improvement over Skrip 7707, I'll say that. Not the least because comedy is... um, I was about to say easier than horror, but no, comedy is not easy. It's just that a bad horror film is really bad, whereas a bad comedy can still claim to be merely boring. And at least 4 Madu has some decent eye candy, provided by some of the hottest Malay actresses in the biz today. (Almy Nadia cun giler lol!!!11 XD) But as is dah biasa untuk filem tempatan, sumorang berlakon over, buat schtick je lebih sebab dalam skrip memang tiada perwatakan langsung. Contohnya Latifah, apakah pendirian dan personalitinya? Dia seorang gadis yang selalu ketawa terdekit-dekit macam puntianak annoying gila babi sampai nak cekik dia sampai mampus.

Y'see, it's a very pointless movie. Maklumlah, ini komedi ringan, bukannya filem yang hendak menyampaikan Ajaran Yang Mustahak Untuk Masyarakat Kini. But it almost seems like there's a subtext, a makna tersirat, that it's trying to convey - only it keeps shooting itself in the foot. As Azrul and Azlan's matrimonial endeavours develop, it slowly becomes clear that Azlan - the lowly hotel worker - is lucking out by finding sweet and loyal girls to be his wives, whereas Azrul - the well-to-do businessman who just fell victim to Ah Longs - is saddled with a bunch of greedy bitches who are only marrying him for his money. This has the makings of a morality tale, a criticism against materialism and how it cheapens the institution of marriage.

And then Azlan marries Jane. Who is an unashamed pisau cukur, and little different from Azrul's wives except that she stays married to him instead of divorcing him the instant he wins his inheritance. Apekebende?? Wahai Tuan Profesor Razak, why?? Just 'cos Sazzy Falak plays her, and she seems like the high-class Melayu celup type, so the only thing you can think of for her to do is play a gold-digger? Ini bodoh. In fact, filem ni makin lama makin bodoh; kenapa semua isteri-isteri Azrul tak sabar nak cerai dia? Sebab cek RM1 juta tu - their price for marrying him - lebih bernilai daripada suami yang bakal mewarisi RM80 juta? Tapi Ghasidah masih setia mencintainya, which... again, this is stupid. For one thing, she's played by Rozita Che Wan, who may be a perfectly decent actress (it's hard to tell when you're in a Razak Mohaideen movie), but "sweetly loyal wife" is not a role that suits her. For another, she left him in the very beginning of the movie! Setia kepala hotak engko.

So yes, it's a pointless movie, in that it doesn't know whatthehell point it's trying to make; it's also a very thoughtless movie, in that Razak clearly wrote the script without thinking any further than "apa lawak yang boleh aku buat sekarang?" There's a bit right after Azlan learns of the will's conditions, in which he protests being asked to marry other women because the only girl he loves is Ros. I was like, "Good for you! Lelaki yang setia dalam percintaan!" But by movie's end, he's Mr. Happy Muslim Polygamist, smugly enjoying the affections of four women who are equally happy to share him. Don't bother looking for any genuine romance in this movie, 'cos all you'll find are travesties of it. Azlan's fourth wife? Zarra? Bertemu dengannya buat kali pertama, tetiba je nak kahwin.

Which isn't really surprising, seeing that all the eight wives and wives-to-be in this movie are fully aware that there's an RM160 million fortune to be made. So really, everyone in this movie is stupid and greedy and materialistic, and this entire movie is a Broken Aesop - filem yang kononnya ada mesej, tapi mesej itu langsung tak menjadi. This is a rare occasion that I find myself agreeing with a mainstream press review (and an Utusan review at that); ini adalah sebuah filem yang memperbodohkan ikatan perkahwinan. So yes, Razak made an incredibly clueless and borderline incompetent film - but does he really deserve to be the scapegoat for the epic fail that is the entire local film industry? No, not really. I'll need to see more of his movies to be sure, but I already suspect that he's just not even distinctive enough to be called Malaysia's worst film director.

NEXT REVIEW: Devil
Expectations: from the mind of the man that brought you this!