REVIEW: ‘Miss Shampoo’ is Adorably Silly Fun

The star-crossed gangster/civilian love story pairing is a classic. It’s also a hard trope to make feel fresh and exciting. More often than not, the gangster is the quintessential bad boy, while the civilian lover is angelic and innocent. In Giddens Ko’s Miss Shampoo (Qing wen hai you na li xu yao jia qiang), we get this kind of couple with a twist. The lines between innocence and corruption are blurred, creating characters with nuance and relatability. It is the relationship between Tai (Daniel Hong) and Fen (Vivian Sung), supported by Tai’s fellow “bros,” that gives a familiar classic romance some much-needed substance.

Ko twists the typical meet-cute scenario from the beginning. Triad gangster Tai stumbles into hair stylist apprentice Fen’s shop to escape assassins sent after him. Fen could have easily given him up. Instead, she distracts the murderers and manages to save Tai’s life in the process. Impressed, he starts to visit her and, almost as quickly, falls in love with her. He becomes hopelessly devoted to her, letting her practice her skills on his hair and his colleagues.

It is this role reversal of the hardened gangster being the softy while the civilian woman being more hardened that makes Miss Shampoo so fun. Actor Daniel Hong portrays a myriad of emotions as Tai tries to figure out the best way to woo Fen. But always haunting Tai is his newfound boss status. Leading part of the triad group, this responsibility and the reputation that comes with it has him at odds with Fen’s more normal life. As a result, Tai becomes the more interesting half of this romance duo.

That’s not to say Fen doesn’t also stand out. There’s an infectious likability factor involved in Vivian Sung’s portrayal of the young woman. She’s earnest and hardworking, yet her hairstyling prowess is pathetic, leading to a great many humorous moments. Despite her more normal upbringing, Fen is unpredictable. She’s not like the other girls Tai’s encountered. As a result, what happens is a push-pull dynamic between the two that feels naturally adorable and silly. But it makes their conflicts in the second half of Miss Shampoo all the more difficult to swallow.

In the second half, Miss Shampoo loses its footing. With so much delicious build-up between Tai, Fen, and Tai’s compatriots in the first half, the story uses its already long runtime to cover the ground with exposition to fill in the blanks of who Tai is and whatnot. Between Ko and Hong’s hard work in establishing Tai as a nuanced character, the exposition executed later on feels unnecessary. The inclusion of a baseball player as a supporting character in the second half also comes too late. With a packed ensemble of characters supporting our romantic duo, it’s too little too late to just shoehorn in a new face to invest in.

These elements are not enough to detract from the sheer adorable, silly vibe Miss Shampoo has. With notable needle drops featuring songs from Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, and more, the music adds to the feeling of whimsy amidst criminal activity. It’s clear that the editors worked in overdrive assembling the film, with punchy cuts adding even further to the humor that punctuates each scene. From the acting to the scenarios encountered to the editing magic onscreen, Miss Shampoo is a fun addition to any romantic comedy viewer’s list.

Miss Shampoo, much like its leading lady, is not perfect. The first half of the film is much stronger than the second half. Ko and the actors subvert rom-com expectations here. While Tai is tough as nails, he is also a big softy. He will literally humiliate himself to help his gal pursue his dream. Fen may be tiny and adorable, but she’ll bust some heads and stand her ground. They complement each other. By the time you get to the end of the film, you’ll be hoping the two stay together forever.

Miss Shampoo adds its own twist to a familiar romantic pairing set-up. By tackling the nuanced humanity at the core of this romantic couple, Giddens Ko gives us a fresh take on a trope beaten half to death with a baseball bat. Come for the romance, hold out hope in that second half, and stay for the couple that is guaranteed to make you snort-laugh.

Miss Shampoo is streaming exclusively on Netflix.