Handle Me with Care

Handle Me With Care (Thai: กอด, Kod, literally "hug") also known as 三手仔手記 (Hong Kong Title)[1] or 一路上有手 (Taiwanese Title)[2] is a 2008 Thai romantic drama film directed by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee.

This article is about the Thai film. For the Traveling Wilburys song, see Handle with Care (song).
Handle Me With Care
Thai theatrical poster
Directed byKongdej Jaturanrasamee
Written byKongdej Jaturanrasamee
Produced byJira Maligool
Yongyoot Thongkongtoon
Cherchonnee Soonthornsaratul
Chanajai Thongsaithong
StarringSupakson Chaimongkol
Kiatkamol Lata
CinematographyNaruphol Chokanapitak
Edited byPatamanada Yukol
Distributed byGMM Tai Hub
Release date
  • February 21, 2008 (2008-02-21)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryThailand
LanguageThai

Plot summary

The story is about a three-armed man on a journey from Lampang to Bangkok who meets a young woman and the two experience various misadventures and grow closer together.

Cast

Release and reception

Handle Me With Care opened in Thailand cinemas on February 21, 2008. It was No. 4 at the box office on opening weekend, behind the newly released Hollywood film, Jumper, the three-week-old Thai martial arts film, Chocolate and a Thai comedy, Valentine, which had been released the week before.[3] It remained in fourth place the following week but then dropped to No. 19 in its third weekend.[4]

Local critical response was mixed. Bangkok Post film critic Kong Rithdee called the film "wearisome", and said that though the film has "nice moments ... the script is too shipshape, maybe too busy with its thematic messages, and it's not easy to sympathise with Kwan, who obviously has never heard of worse handicaps. Writer-director Kongdej Jaturanrasamee is a better director when he allows his films to be wackier.".[5]

ThaiCinema.org's reviewers praised the performance by actress Supaksorn Chaimongkol, as well as the intricate "hand talent" effects – Kwan's third hand was played by an actual actor, rather than special effects. But the reviewers said the film contained too many elements and tended to be draggy in places.[6]

The film was screened at the 2008 Hong Kong International Film Festival, where it was reviewed by Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter, who echoed the criticisms that the film had too many elements. "Director Kongdej Jaturanrasamee is in two minds about turning his script into Jim Carrey-like slapstick, a candy floss romance with a dash of magical fantasy, or an offbeat road movie. He handles none of these generic variations with enough care, leaving each dangling like an unwanted arm."[7]

Russell Edwards of Variety also said the problem was the script, which "like many comedies with a sentimental streak, gets lost in mawkishness ... the idiosyncratic "Handle" becomes too slow and self-pitying".[8]

The film also played at the 2008 Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy and in June 2008 at the Filmfest München in Munich, Germany.

Festivals

Handle Me With Care has been shown at film festivals as follows:

References
  1. "THE 32ND HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Programme".
  2. "2008 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival: Programme".
  3. "Thailand box office, February 21–24, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  4. "Thailand box office, March 6–9, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  5. Rithdee, Kong (2008-02-26). "Handle Me With Care capsule review". Bangkok Post. Khlong Toei, Bangkok: Post Publishing Public. p. 6.
  6. Anchalee, Chaiworaporn; Sorradithep Supachanya (2008-03-05). "Handle Me With Care". ThaiCinema.org. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  7. Lee, Maggie (2008-03-27). "Handle Me With Care". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, CA: The Nielsen Company. Archived from the original on September 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  8. Edwards, Russell (2008-04-09). "Hong Kong Film Fest: Handle Me With Care". Variety. Los Angeles, CA: Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
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