To be honest, I am not a big fan of Stephen Chow's earlier works. Not that they were bad, but they were not as good as the classics such as God of Cookery, King of Comedy, Shaolin Soccer, and of course, this film. I found the early films with Stephen talking in a cartoonish "comedic" voice annoying.The ones where he has more creative control tend to have him speaking in a more natural, and more deadpan voice and those films tend to carry deeper messages than just a mindless comedy. Seriously, some scenes are moving.Now back to this movie, there's really not much to criticize here. The acting, the dialogue, the typical Stephen Chow style of humor, all fantastic. There aren't many ROFL moments, but there are endless classic funny moments that the film will make you grin from ear to ear pretty much from start to finish. And I know that I personally still quote some lines from the movie in my everyday life... :)The one knock I do have is Gong Li, whose talents seem wasted in the film. No doubt she looks great in the film, but she's not given much to do and seems rather wooden as if she did not enjoy herself in the movie. Knowing Gong's talent, it felt strange to see her character just be a "vase" love interest and nothing more. I guess you don't want to have anyone upstage Stephen but in that case why not cast a starlet with a less impressive resume than Gong? However, overall, this is a great film and I highly recommend it.

To call Stephen Chow the Jim Carrey of Asia, would be an understatement. His shows never fail to make me laugh, especially because of the means he use to try and get the girl he likes.Tang Bohu, one of the 4 great scholars, is the envy of many men. He has 8 beautiful wives, he has talent, but unknown to others, he does not have happiness, because his wives do not understand him.One day, he meets Qiuxiang (played by Gong Li), a maid to Madam Wah (who unknown to him, is actually his father's ex-girlfriend; well-played by Cheng Pei Pei), and is so smitten by her. He disguises himself as Wah An, an orphan from a rural village and comes out with a story that his family was killed by Tang Bohu, so that he can enter the house.Qiuxiang is in love with Tang Bohu's poetry and hopes to meet the man himself, not knowing that the man himself, is in the same house as her.Gong Li looks beautiful as ever in her role as Qiuxiang. Stephen Chow makes me laugh with his witty remarks during the poetry competitions as the Wah household faces off with King Ning. Add the comedic talent of Yuen King-Tan who plays the very horny Shek Lau, Pak-cheung Chan, who plays the rather unreliable friend, Chuck Chi-Shan, and you are pretty much guaranteed comedy at its best! Will Bohu get Qiuxiang? Will the Wah household defeat King Ning's man, Evil Scholar? Will Bohu restore honor to his father's weapon, the steel spear? Watch and find out?

This is a typical Stephen Chow's commedy. Inside you see all the necessary elements: jokes, love, kungfu. Well, the story is not new. This is a traditional Hong Kong/Chinese story, but the reproduction in this new style has been quite successful. I must admit that this movie has given me one and a half-hour of continuous laughing. However, this is a very "Hong-Kong-ish" movie. I think only Hong Kongese can appreciate its jokes. Because of difference in culture and inability of translating exactly, non-HongKongese may find the movie stupid and uninteresting. If only Hong Kong people rated this title, I'm sure the rating would be higher.

"Flirting Scholar" follows Stephen Chow's long tradition of inspired looniness, and made me giggle out loud in reaction to its pure enthusiasm to entertain. His riffs on Chinese tradition are funnier when you have some context, but much of his humor is so outrageous that you'll laugh regardless, as many jokes, especially the physical comedy, are universal. While this isn't quite my favorite Chow film, it's definitely worth watching, and still a must-have item in any Chow collection.Like many Chow films, "Flirting Scholar" takes a typically over-the-top approach to its comedy, and incorporates such elements as extremely physical slapstick, parody, kung-fu, cartoonish surrealism, and wacky references to other HK movies. To truly appreciate Chow you need to watch lots of HK cinema -- and after you have watched several of Chow's films, you will begin to pick up on running gags that appear in successive movies. While not as masterfully executed or as narratively tight as one of his truly brilliant films, such as "God of Cookery," this film is simply so utterly crazy at times that it will nonetheless make you laugh out loud, as all of his films inevitably do.