Hidden Treasures

30 episodes
Starring: Bobby Au Yeung, Sonija Kwok, Anne Heung, Shirley Yeung, Ellesmere Choi, Lai Yiu Cheung

This series revolves around Bobby Au Yeung and the people of Apliu Street, famous in Hong Kong for possessing “Hidden Treasures”, that is, secondhand goods of great value. This typical “Bobby” movie sees him elicit his charms of being the well respected “big brother” of the street. Anne Heung plays the rough handed and loud childhood friend, who has been in love with him since childhood. Her obvious effort should be noted, but frankly, she fails to pull off the role very convincingly as her eyes lack conviction, even when she is angry or sad, her eyes seem like blank holes that are lifeless. She can frown and smile good naturedly, but when it comes to more sophisticated expressions, she falls well short.

Bobby’s typical comedic style of acting reminds of his great performance in the “File of Justice” series, but unfortunately, a dull storyline with limited character development causes his antics to be tiresome through most of the series. At 30 episodes, “Hidden Treasures” is extremely indulgent and fails to provoke interest in characters or events.

In most of the first half, Bobby battles tirelessly to save his stereo shop from closing. The competition is posed by his fellow neighbour, who hates him deeply. After god knows how many episodes, the shop finally shuts down, and Bobby resorts to collecting secondhand goods to resell, the “true” spirit of the people on Apliu Street. The corny themes of people coming together to support others in need is excruciating to watch. The neighbours of Apliu street and Bobby’s family are irritating, especially his two sisters and their husbands, who seem to have no other purpose except shouting out at the injustices Bobby endures.

Sonija is Bobby’s main love interest, but the lack of chemistry between them and Sonija’s limited acting ability is awful. Their story revolves around his son, of whom her sister is the mother and had a relationship with Bobby years ago. The bond between father and son is overdone. Granted, it was sweet to watch in the beginning, but a good series MUST have romance, and pitifully, romance is nonexistent in another one of TVB’s low quality productions.

Anne and Lai Yiu Cheung's 'enemy then love' story is as typical as it gets, with Yiu Cheung's comedic portrayal not adding anything refreshing to a dull series.

The recent tendency to portray the lives of film directors (Sonija is a promising director) is quite monotonous. Similarity between Jessica Hsuan’s goal of directing in Hollywood (A Handful of Love) and Sonija’s similar wish is obviously evidence of TVB storywriters’ lack of innovative ideas, and also undermines the Hong Kong film industry as “not good enough”.

Furthermore, Bobby’s two best friends offer a different angle, but Ellesmere Choi and Shirley Yeung’s love story is mediocre, and they possess no greater chemistry than Bobby and Sonija.

The scene where Anne is rejected by Bobby after expressing her love for him sees her struggling to cry, you would think that after so many seriels she has starred in, she would improve in showing her emotion, but this scene is terrible to watch.

This series is not worth the money to hire and a waste of time. STEER CLEAR EVERYONE!

Official Site:
http://www.tvb.com/tvbi/program/treasures/index.html