Poise and Rationality

The Movie: What I thought of it.
Teenagers. Secrets. Music. Life. Kuala Lumpur and it’s many lifestyles. This was a movie everyone could relate to. Yeah, so what if the actors were way older than their given ages in the movie, it was worth watching, definitely. I liked the way they showed how so many different people could still share same interests. Loved the way everything connected to each other. Enjoyed it a lot. It made you sad, made you angry, made you laugh until you’re in stitches. Made you think. You feel like you’re not watching a movie, but just life itself. A life that any of us could possibly live, because it’s so close to how we are now anyway. Makes me look at any stranger, or friend, and think, is there something they’ve been hiding since the beginning?

The Characters:

Ali - Played by Syarul Ezani

This character was like the Harry Potter of the movie. One of the more dramatic ones. You know. Pretty boy, temperamental, is a hero at some point. Unlike Harry Potter however, this guy doesn’t pop into my head as a ‘nuisance’, but more like a troubled soul, which he obviously is. His secret? He used to do drugs. And is still tempted. And does get tempted. But does he fall for it again? Watch for yourself lah kan. Also, he reads the indie mag “KAMI” which is written by Lynn, though no one knows it’s her. Who’s Lynn? Read on. Also, he is a guitarist of a band, but he’s got this crazy stage fright, that causes him to restrain from becoming a vocalist, too.
At the end of the series, his mother leaves the dad, his sister leaves the house and he quits drugs as a promise to Abu. Who’s Abu? Hold your pants, I’m getting there!
As an actor, I feel like Syarul managed to connect with the character later on in the whole process of filming. I found his acting quite rigid and unnatural in the first few series of Kami, but by the time the movie came out, he was Ali. He was Ali.

Lyn - Played by Liyana Jasmay

Liyana plays the kampong awek, Lyn, who suddenly moves to KL. Secret? Well, the primary one is that she is the writer of the mag “KAMI” of which she writes under the name of TekaTeki. When she criticizes Ali’s band in Junk Magazine, she has to desperately stay undercover even more than usual. Secondly, she was involved with drug dealing, desperate to earn some cash, and taste excitement. When her mother found out, they moved away from the kmpg. When you think about it, this begins to show some connection between her and Ali. In the movie, her worst nightmare returns when the drug dealer, Boy, shows up in KL, and starts to get himself involved with her friends (Abu, Ali, Sofi and Adii). What happens and how does she solve it? Tengok la filem!
As an actress? Liyana’s good! But she’s very amateur but strangely, it’s acceptable. It’s obvious she’s not been acting before, but in a way it blends perfectly with her character; insecure and kind of fidgety. She did a good job portraying Lyn, definitely.

Abu - Played by Nas-T

Comel, kan? This is Abu. The joker, the rebel, the rough, loud and carefree boy. The one who’s always ready to make everyone laugh, even during the worst moments. So what’s the dark side? He can never live up to his dad’s expectations. He runs away from the juvenile school and lies about it to his friends so they don’t need to worry. He fights. He steals. He lies. But you cannot NOT love Abu. My favourite character of the whole show, definitely. He has a brother who was murdered while waiting for his internet lover to show up near a bus stop. This however, is shown in the series, not the movie. Abu has a soft spot for Lyn, and finds out about her TekaTeki identity, as well as realizing who his brother’s internet lover really is. Hint, hint, Abu makes the movie extremely sad in the end.
Nas-T? Ah, he’s a natural, really. He plays the character extremely well, knowing when to be cheeky and when to be menacing and when to show a weak side of himself. He portrays a lost boy perfectly, and I cannot think of any other actor who can make himself look 7 years younger as well as him. xD

Adii - Played by Ani Ibrahim

Adii. The bubbly, optimistic, supportive friend. The sad part? She can’t find her other half. Ever. Why? Because he’s dead and she has no idea about it. Yup. Adii’s online lover is the brother of Abu. Those of you who didn’t watch the series and were intending on watching the movie, sorry I might’ve just ruined it for you. Adii is Ali’s cousin, and though they don’t show her parents in the movie, she had trouble trying to keep up with her mother’s deafness in the series, which was quite moving at points.
As an actress, I feel she did a pretty good job. Ani was extremely Adii; sporty, not entirely girly but not rough either. With the short hair and sassy look, she was my favourite girl character of the movie.

Sofie - Played by Juliana Evans

So typical, isn’t it? Always put in a rich, pretty girl. Sofie. The girl who has it all but not enough. She seeks for love, not material. Closest to Adii, she falls for her cousin, Ali, so cliché, and surprise, surprise, he falls for her, too, but oh, THANK GOD, they don’t do that whole ‘let’s just get them to end up together for a happy ending’. Her mother has this phobia of being alone, so Sofie has to face the pressure of trying to get her mom to let her go.
Juliana, to me, seemed uncomfortable 3/4 of the time. I have no idea why, maybe it’s the character she plays, of just the way she is. She definitely did fit Sofie’s character, though. But Sofie was my least favourite character out of the five, and part of it was due to the acting as well. Ah well.

So what’s the wow-factor?
The story flowed easily, and secrets didn’t reveal all at once. Each character had moments to really portray what they were all about and I found this particularly good. There wasn’t a moment where I went ‘What?’ during the entire film. There was anticipation ringing in the cinema hall, where for a second everyone was thinking “oh my god, oh my god, he’s going to find out, oh my god!”

Not so wows?
Next time, they should find better supporting characters. Sure they did not matter that much, but still, the people who played Ali and Sofie’s mom, Abu’s dad, and the drug dealer who worked with Boy… DUDE. Honestly. My favourite supporting character was definitely Boy, he played well as the villain, and as this film was his debut as an actor, he sure did a good job to promote himself. But honestly… the supporting characters… no wows from here. Another good supporting actor was Pak Din, the gatekeeper of Abu’s juvenile school.

One thing I really loved from the movie were the scenes when no dialogue passed, like when Ali continuously punches the back of his car, while Lyn sits inside holding Abu, crying. And when she falls to the floor against the car later on. The part when Ali and Lyn look at each other, both caught doing the thing no one was meant to know (find out what yourself!).

Ahhh, KAMI. It was good. Real good. Not a WOW WOW WOW movie, but it was… gooood….