Mr. Unbelievable is a 2015 Singaporean musical comedy film directed by Ong Kuo Sin, and starring Chen Tianwen as the titular protagonist. It is based on the viral song "Unbelievable" and was released in cinemas in Singapore on December 3, 2015, and in Malaysia on January 14, 2016.
Plot
Eric Kwek Hock Seng, born on the same day as Singapore, is abandoned as a baby in a basket with a broccoli, and is taken in by Master Lo Man. Lo Man trains Eric to perform in the getai industry, although his looks has caused setbacks. Through the years, he becomes one who is a patriotic Singaporean, and is hugely supportive of national campaigns. When Lo Man's getai business becomes unable to keep up with the times, he decided to add English lyrics to Chinese songs, much to the dismay to Master Lo Man, his friends, Ah Hua and Ah Fei, and frequent getai-goers. At the same time, his poor command of the English language made it worse, resulting in certain phrases, such as "stunned like vegetable", sounding relatively wonky. However, his disciple, Lawrence, is extremely supportive of this decision, as he is encouraged by his mother to listen to Eric's songs. To show his strong will and persistence in order to fulfil his dreams, Eric is determined to go on an unbelievable musical journey, even at the ripe age of 50. With the help of Lawrence, Eric managed to become a sensation through his song "Unbelievable".
Cast
Chen Tianwen as Eric Kwek Hock Seng, a 50-year-old getai performer
The huge success of Chen's "Unbelievable" music video, which garnered 3.2 million views on Facebook and YouTube prompted director Ong Kuo Sin to come up with a feature film and provide a background story for it. The film was shot in 15 days starting from 14 September 2015. In order to sing Hokkien songs in the film, Jaime Teo had to watch online videos to brush up on the dialect.
Soundtrack
It was announced that Mr. Unbelievable would have three to four original songs, as well as other cover songs thrown in. With the release of the teaser trailer, the song "ABC" was revealed. The final trailer of the film revealed a cover of Frances Yip's song "Seung Hoi Tan", with English lyrics about hitching vehicles. On November 23, 2015, the music video for Hayley Woo's "Kabe-don" was uploaded onto YouTube on the official channel for Clover Films, while the music video for Chen Tianwen's "I'm 50 Years Old" was uploaded on December 3. The music video of Marcus Chin's "Bitter Sea" was uploaded on December 10.
Reception
Yip Wai Yee of The Straits Times gave Mr. Unbelievable2 out of 5 stars, attributing it to Chen's portrayal of his teenage character "unconvincing", and that "to milk and drag it into a full-length feature film makes the nonsense go on for far too long". Marcus Goh of Yahoo! Movies called it "intentionally cheesy and corny, which works well given the subject matter of the film and the different language mediums it spans". At the same time, "it definitely appeals to the older crowd, but there are elements for the younger audience". Jocelyn Lee of The New Paper rated Mr. Unbelievable a 2 out of 5, as it "is hindered by a thin plot, and relies on slapstick humour, making it utterly forgettable".
Box office
Mr. Unbelievable collected $25,000 on its opening day, making it the biggest opener among Singaporean films, excluding Chinese New Year-related films.
Sequel
A sequel has been planned to be released in 2016, according to an interview with Chen Tianwen by The New Paper. This had been confirmed by both Chen and Ong after Chen's huge breakthrough.
