Look, I really, really tried my best to be objective when reviewing a movie. Come on, let's face it, we all go to the movies for entertainment, right? And movies are just a way of telling a story, right? So, what I'm trying to say here, at the risk of sounding long-winded, is that being objective in reviewing a movie means rating a movie by the twin criteria of its entertainment value and the quality of its storytelling, regardless of whether I like the movie's plot, actors, director, etc, etc. My personal tastes don't or rather, can't matter.

Thus, despite the really not-so-positive criticisms I'm sure that many other reviewers are going to give about the movie When I Fall In Love..With Both, I have to say that it only falls short of one of the aforementioned criteria above.

When I Fall is a Hong Kong production produced by Derek Yee (My Dad is a Jerk, Till Death Do Us Part) and directed by Chiu Leung Chun (Lost Boys in Wonderland, What a Wonderful World). The script was written by Chiu Leung Chun and Siu Kwan Hung. It stars two Singaporeans Fann Wong (The Truth about Jane and Sam) and James Lye (2000 AD), Peter Ho, Theresa Lee (Downtown Torpedoes, Extreme Crisis, Purple Storm), James Chan, Sean Chan, Michelle Reis (Armageddon, Young and Dangerous 4, Prince Charming), Alex Fong Chung Sun (The Storm Riders, Casino, Rules Of The Game) and David Wu.

When I Fall tells the story of three women, each of whom falls in love with two men and can't decide which one to choose. The story is divided into three separate segments according to the location of the women, namely Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong.

The first part dealt in Singapore, where Joy (Fann Wong), a journalist, is torn between her boss Chi-Wing (James Lye) and Sam (Peter Ho), a young baker. The second part then moves to Hong Kong, where Cherry (Theresa Lee) is married to Chi-Wu (James Chan) but at the same time, is attracted to Chi-Wu's twin brother, Chi-Man (Sean Chan). The final segment shifts to Macau, where Ce-Ce (Michelle Reis) sleeps with two men on the same day and finds herself pregnant. Her quandary lies when she has to choose between her two lovers, Chun-Nam (Alex Fong Chung-Sun) and Ah Tung (David Wu) to be the father of her child.

The major problem with When I Fall is that after the first segment of the story, you can basically predict where the other two segments are heading. This makes for an almost tedious and predictable second and third segment of the movie and leaves you feeling just flat. Also, since the three segments are basically slight variations of each other, the story didn't seem to be going anywhere after the first 45 minutes. So what we have here is the story of three women who are in almost exactly the same situation in their love lives and believe me, by the film's end, you're still left in the dark as to the film's direction. I mean, if they were to reverse the story by putting men in the position of the women and vice versa, the story would still come out as aimless and predictable. (Not that Michelle Reis's role could be reprised by a man, but I think you get the idea.)

Still, When I Fall does have its saving graces. Some humor were injected into the story and this helped to light up the story at brief moments. Especially when Chinese superstition is mixed in with story of the 'Titanic'. I shall not elaborate here but the Titanic part had everybody in the audience in stitches. The dialogue flows smoothly and the story, for what its worth, is told very well. I mean, if you wanted to tell the story of three different women who are in three different locations, segmenting the movie into three distinct parts is a great way to do it. Also, the plot build-up in each of the three segments was done well, despite the distinct lack of difference in the three stories.

As for the actors, Fann Wong was quite wonderful as the pretty, innocent and independent Joy. Despite the lack of room for expansion in her role, somehow her acting manages to shine throughout the movie. Expect to see more of this Singaporean actress in the future. For once, Michelle Reis is not just a pretty 'flowerpot', as a friend of mine so aptly named her past roles in movies. She gives a commendable performance as the demure, loving yet surprisingly strong and independent Ce-Ce.

Overall, When I Fall' is a light comedy/drama that left me vaguely unsatisfied and manages to pass only the criteria (remember?) of quality storytelling. On the criteria of entertainment value, it definitely falls short according to my yardstick.