''Love on a Diet'' () is a 2001 Hong Kong

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film produced and directed by

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

and

Wai Ka-fai Wai Ka-Fai (born 21 September 1962) is a Hong Kong screenwriter, producer, film director, and former TV screenwriter and producer. Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and pr ...

, starring

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

and

Sammi Cheng Sammi Cheng Sau-man (; born 19 August 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is considered one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong, with album sales of over million copies throughout Asia. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dub ...

. The film reunites Lau and Cheng, who last paired up in 2000's '' Needing You...''. For their roles, both actors play

obese Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

characters and had to wear

fatsuit A fatsuit, also known as a fat suit or a fat-suit, is a bodysuit-like undergarment used to thicken the appearance of an actress or actor of light to medium build into an overweight or obese character, in conjunction with prosthetic makeup. Fatsui ...

s with

prosthetic makeup Prosthetic makeup also called special make-up effects and FX prosthesis) is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. Prosthetic makeup goes back to the beginning of film makin ...

Plot

Mini Mo (

) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

resident living in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She suffers from depression, low

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

and a

binge eating disorder Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, o ...

– the result which sees her suffers from extreme

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

. A

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...

causes her to meet Fatso (

), a Hong Kong

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

working in Japan who is also obese. Mini sticks with Fatso everywhere, and although initially vexed by Mini, Fatso discovers the reason behind her depression. Mini cannot forget her former boyfriend, Kurokawa, who is now a world-famous

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Ten years ago, the two had pledged to meet at the foot of

Yokohama Marine Tower is a high lattice tower with an observation deck at a height of 100 metres in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan. The light characteristic is marked by a flash every twenty seconds, whereby the light's colour is alternating red and green. Originally, ...

on the night of their break-up. Mini is fearful of meeting Kurokawa in her present size. Touched by her story and her sweet nature, Fatso promises to whip her back into shape. After trying desperate means of losing weight (such as swallowing

tapeworm Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass is Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Cestodar ...

s and exercising to

Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance V ...

), Mini finally sheds pounds. But Fatso finds his funds running low. To earn enough to finance Mini's weight-loss programs, he opens a boxing gig on the streets allowing on-lookers to punch him to vent their pent-up frustrations. He next enrolls Mini on an expensive weight-loss program, which proves to be very successful. Mini regains her former slim and pretty look. On the night of her reunion with Kurokawa, Fatso drops Mini off at Tokyo Tower and she meets up with former beau under the gazing eyes of the local

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

. The pair are interviewed by a local network, but Mini notices another broadcast featuring Fatso's street boxing gig. She finally realizes how much Fatso has sacrificed himself for her and is moved to tears. Turning to apologize to Kurokawa, she leaves hastily. Months later, Mini publishes a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

dieting Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. As weight loss depends on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-redu ...

, and finds a slimmed-down Fatso carrying her book in a park. The two kiss, promising never to leave each other again.

Cast

as Fatso *

as Mini Mo *

Wong Tin-lam Wong Tin-Lam (1927–2010) was a Chinese screenwriter, producer, director, and actor, who has contributed to the Hong Kong cinema scene with a career spanning six decades. He has made films in Cantonese, Mandarin and Amoy dialect. Career Wong ...

as Fatso's fat friend *

Lam Suet Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor. Life and career Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...

as Bun Man * Rikiya Kurokawa as Kurokawa * Kenji Sato as Fatso's boxing customer * Asuka Higuchi as Ms. Kudo * Wong Mei-fan as Radio DJ * Po Ming-nam as Cocaine Ken * Hung Wai-leung as Fatso's fat friend * Cheung Chi-ping as Fatso's fat friend * Cheng Kam-cheung as Fatso's fat friend * Lo Ching-ting

Awards and nominations

Trivia

* Fatso's car is a Mitsubishi Minica Toppo

External links

* * {{MilkywayImage 2001 films 2001 romantic comedy films Hong Kong romantic comedy films Films about obesity Films set in Japan Films shot in Japan 2000s Japanese-language films 2000s Cantonese-language films China Star Entertainment Group films Milkyway Image films Films directed by Johnnie To Films directed by Wai Ka-Fai Films with screenplays by Yau Nai-hoi Films with screenplays by Wai Ka-fai Japan in non-Japanese culture 2000s Hong Kong films