This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Self-satisfied fluff about self-involved young people in love . . . or maybe not! Bouncy fashion plate Stephy Tang happily interferes in the frayed relationships of her friends, runs a speed dating swindle with another pal, and sorts out her feelings for old flame Alex Fong — who she played on her way to a supposedly better catch before suffering a string of bad luck — and new flame Hins Cheung, the youngest looking doctor in Hong Kong and (coincidentally, I'm sure) a whiz at melancholy melodies on the piano. Director-writer Patrick Kong is so taken with the narrative trickery in his screenplay that his characters end up being motivated by false assumptions and mixed signals instead of common sense. While these are legitimate storytelling devices, usually requiring flashbacks to clue us in to the "real" story taking place, Kong employs all of them so frequently that no other filmmaker need bother with them for the next five years. Besides, the Koreans have been doing it better for a while now. Essentially, this is another feature-length infomercial for the talent roster of Gold Label recording boss Paco Wong, but it can't compare to his last one, LOVE @ FIRST NOTE. Pretty people in pretty clothing stalking their lovers to a pretty good Cantopop soundtrack. Of course, only in a film like this could a character who pastes pictures of his secret crush onto pictures of himself before taping them all over his wall be considered a real sweet fella.

Yet another Marriage with a Fool… Alex and Stephy have become the Andy and Sammi of the new generation. While this suggestion is still far fetched, their chemistry is undeniably and the radiate of seeing the two together on-screen is easing. Director Patrick Kong have improved from his last venture in Marriage with a Fool, but like the aforementioned flick, it comes off uneven, average and seemingly wanna-be smart. Kong goes a step further to make the movie look smarter than it is and ultimately fails miserably. While Edmond Pang's Beyond Our Ken was seemingly ingenious and out rightly smart, Kong tries hard, but ends up lacking. The fault can be due to a variety of reasons, but the unevenness is caused of Alex Fong being criminally underused and the effect remains rather force than impacting.The movie goes like this: Stephy comes across her ex-boyfriend Ryan (Alex Fong) who got dumped by her three years ago. Apparently Ryan still loves Bo, but Bo remains haunted by a series of misfortune happenings, which she suspected to be part of Ryan's vengeance plan, after she broke up with him and started with another guy. Meanwhile, her friend Wing's (Sammy) cheating on his wife (Linda Chung) also bothers her...The story never seems to be heading anywhere and the somewhat smart finale is once again unfitting. As noted by Neo in last year, Marriage with a Fool, the effect is like an average movie for the entire duration and then suddenly editing a Wong Kar Wai or even Edmond Pang's ending to it. While Love is Not All Around tries harder to be smart, but sometimes the audience just wish the director can concentrate on the movie main selling point – Alex and Stephy.There is no doubt that the current reviewer does somewhat like Stephy, but Neo have yet to witness a ground breaking performance that can probably launch her career. While her fellow counterpart Miki have excelled with a credible scene stealing performance in B420, Stephy have venture through roles that are relatively the same. With that being said, her chemistry with Alex is extremely well established and perhaps it is the reason why director Kong so seamlessly attempts to cheat the audience. Likewise, Alex Fong once again fails to impresses and is a far fetch from his I'll Call You days. Then again, his role here seems nothing more than a glorified cameo.As for TVB actress Linda Chung performs well enough for a debut and her crying sequences seems natural enough at least for a starter. Likewise, she performs a similarly sort of role in the now famous TVB series – Heart of Greed. Sammy appears here and there and so does upcoming singer Hins Cheung. Unfortunately his involvement seems to promote his music abilities than actual acting. While there is no question that Neo likes a couple songs from Hins last album, his acting is almost non-existent.All in all, Love is Not All Around doesn't make much sense and while it avoided the un-related prequel pitfalls of overusing music videos, director Kong thinks he is smart and the end result suggests otherwise. While the flick could easier been the next I'll Call You, but somehow it ends up going down the path of its predecessor. The movie seems to suggest that love is all about pretending not to know and that life is not what it seems to be. The movie offers nothing new to the notion of love and the idea that life is not always what it seems to be is fast becoming more cliché than anything else. Love is Not All Around is average and as much as the director wants to be smart, the movie is not smart and the results speak for itself…I rate it 6.25/10www.thehkneo.com