The Drive of Life

I've wanted to finish this series as quickly as possible so that I can write a review. This has been one of the more enjoyable series I've seen in a long time about dreams, ambitions, family and love.

Plot: 4.5/5
Even though this series stretched 60 episodes long, the show was very well produced and the plot was quite refreshing centering on the automotive industry. From the love relationships to the corporate strategies, the twists and turns kept me coming back for more and I normally get tired of a series fairly quickly. The cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong actors was quite smooth and I found the casting to be quite appropriate. Anyway, the focus of this review will be on the main HK cast and their acting. (THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!)

Damien Lau:
As Wah Man Hon, Damien did an excellent job as the strong-willed, wise and compassionate entrepreneur, father, eldest brother and husband. In both the corporate world and in his family, he always remained calm and collected and was respected and adored by his wife and children. Damien played this role perfectly and was able to demonstrate his emotions in these different roles very well. A lot of his scenes were so good that I just had to replay them over again. Many of my favorite scenes were those with Damien and Jessica, who played his daughter. They play a very convincing father-daughter relationship. I give Damien 6 out of 5 stars! (That's how good he was)

Michael Miu:
As Wah Man Shek, the youngest of 3 brothers, Michael plays the impulsive, flirty, and dependent youngest brother. I would say he played the flirty role so well that I wondered if he is really flirty in real life. However, since his return to show biz, I feel that his acting has gotten a bit stiff compared to his acting back in the 80's. It's almost like he isn't sure how to react in certain scenes that he just puts a smirk on his face. I've noticed this in Dicey Business also. Regardless, I think he's very good looking (not just for his age) and has a very good height. He's probably the only close-to-50-years-of-age actor that is getting so much on screen action with all these beautiful women such as Jessica in Dicey Business, Sheren Tang & the mistress, (whom I can't remember the name) in The Drive of Life. I give Michael 4 out of 5 stars.

(Spoiler! If you don't want to read the spoilers, skip the next paragraph)
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Very worth mentioning was his attire in this show – he always looked sharp and cool even at the moment he tried to commit suicide. Near the end of the series, you'll notice him sporting some very nice ties too.
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(End of spoiler)

Raymond Lam:
As Wah Zhen Bong, he plays the jovial, excitable, somewhat impulsive and extremist son of Wah Man Hon. He is the type of person that would think of an idea and regardless of what extreme conditions, would manage to convince the people around him to help him materialize the idea. Don't hate me but I've never been such a big fan of Raymond. Raymond does an above average job with this role and I can definitely see that he has improved since the first time I saw him in Step Into The Past with Louis Koo. I give Raymond 4 out of 5.

(Spoiler)
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In this role, he falls in love with Charmaine Sheh's role and gets deeply hurt. Most of the romance in this show focused on the relationship between Ray and Charmaine. There were 2 memorable scenes for this couple: First, in the later part of the series, where Ray begs Charmaine to stab him with the broken bottle in order for Charmaine to get over the burden and hurt from her mother's death. Charmaine, still deeply in love with Ray, drops the bottle and they hug and cry. Second, in the earlier part of the series, where they were both on the upper level of a double decker bus and he convinced Charmaine that the more she kisses him, the more money she'll earn.
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(End of spoiler)

Joe Ma:
Joe plays Ngai Wing Biu, Wah Man Hon's power thirsty son-in-law who is always trying to gain the respect and recognition of his father-in-law. I do not have much to say about him other than that he did an average job as the villain in this series. He has been heavily promoted by TVB in the past few years but I am still waiting to be awed. I give him 3 out of 5 stars.

Jessica Hsuen:
Jessica plays Wah Ching Yu, the filial daughter of Wah Man Hon (Damien's character) and loving wife of Ngai Wing Biu (Joe's character). I was very disappointed that Jessica did not get a bigger role in the series. For someone who normally plays the leading role in all her series, I felt that she not only has reduced screen time compared to the other actresses, but she also had a role that would normally be given to less prominent actresses. You can probably tell I am a die hard fan of Jessica so my review of her may be biased. Opposite to Damien, Jessica did an excellent job as Wah Man Hon's daughter. The emotions that are communicated when she looks into her father's eyes were so powerful. I give Jessica 5 out of 5 stars even though her screen time was limited.

(Spoiler)
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As soon as I saw this scene, I couldn't wait to write my review. My all time favorite scene was where the Wah family went to the house of Joe and Jessica (who is now married and pregnant), to confront Joe about his evil deeds and Jessica was pretending to side with Joe in order to get evidence of his wrong doings. Damien (Jessica's father) told her to look him in the eyes and repeat what she said. With the emotions communicated from Jessica's eyes, without saying a word, you could feel that the father could read into her soul and understand exactly what she was trying to do. Jessica was awesome in this scene where she wants to tell the truth but feeling so trapped that she just cannot. Your heartbeat would definitely rise by watching this intense scene.
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(End of spoiler)

Charmaine Sheh:
As Wing Sau Fung, she was very convincing in her happy, sad, manipulative, and torn scenes. In this series, she demonstrated that she could be a very flexible actress as she plays the different roles from good to evil and back to good. Charmaine was the leading actress in this series from beginning to end. I find that she has very powerful eyes that can easily go from naïve, innocent and caring to coy and manipulative. I really like her sad scenes especially the ones opposite to Damien. (Hmm, there seems to be a recurring theme here – Damien) Anyway, I am glad that she is getting recognized for her work. I give her 4.5 out of 5 stars as there is still room for some improvement.

(Spoiler)
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Charmaine easily plays her roles going from the strong-willed money crazy daughter trying to make a better life for her abused mother, to the manipulative and torn daughter trying to revenge her mother's death, and then back to the caring wife who desperately wants to help her husband succeed. I really felt sorry for her when she lost her baby and started siding with the villain just to defeat the Wah family in order to revenge her mother.
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(End of spoiler)

Myolie Wu:
Myolie plays Fong Bing Yee, a very conscientious, hard working, loyal and sentimental secretary to Wah Zhen Bong (Ray's character). This is one of her very typical roles so it was not very refreshing to see her in this series even though she does her usual good job. While I don't think Myolie is very attractive, I usually like her acting just because of the sincerity she exudes in her roles. However, because of how well she does these roles, I find that she tends to be typecasted into these types of characters. Anyway, the usual good job from Myolie deserves a 4 out of 5 stars.

(Spoiler)
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I am still surprised at how quickly she ended up with Zhen Man (Raymond - Zhen Bong's cousin from Mainland). I feel as though the directors felt sorry for her breakup with Ray so they just wanted to match her up with someone.
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(End of spoiler)

Just a few nominations:
Best hair: Charmaine Sheh in the earlier part of the series & then in the later part of the series Chiu Ngor (Mainland) as Lee Seen Sin
Worst hair: Raymond's curly hair and sometimes his straight hair looks really dry (get some conditioner/moisturizer!)

Best dressed: Michael Miu, Charmaine Sheh & Sheren Tang
Worst dressed: Myolie Wu & her father

Best crying male & female: Damien & Jessica & Charmaine
Worst crying: Toby Leung & Michael Miu

Best couple: Ray & Charmaine (because they have the most screen time)
Worst couple: Ron & Toby

The Canto version of the series had a mandarin-cantonese duet as their theme song which was quite good. However, I have to say that Raymond Lam's sub theme took the prize. I'd say Ray is a much better singer than actor at the moment. This was also the theme song for the Ray and Charmaine romance story in this series. An excellent song!

I would definitely recommend watching this series, it's long but it's worth it!