Number 1 is painted in broad strokes, albeit colourful ones. So this review will similarly be written in broad strokes.
Chow Chee Beng (Mark Lee) was served his retrenchment letter in an inopportune time. He has a new SUV and a landed property that have not been paid for. Desperate for a job, any job, a night club manager (Henry Thia) engages him to be his AGM. Chow thinks he is going to be an Assistant General Manager. It turns out to be a job that entails much more than he bargained for. He needs to manage a group of drag queen performers and AGM stands for Ah Gua Manager. To make matters worse, Chow even has to become a drag queen to replace a member of the troupe.
This may sound like a huge broad stroke, but for me, films made in Singapore usually fall heavily on two ends of the spectrum. It’s either low brow comedies or arty farty stuff. Number 1 is in the former. At times it does show some aspirations to become something else, but alas it feels more comfortable in that category.
I make it sound like I didn’t enjoy it, which couldn’t be far from the truth. While it lasted, I guffawed in raucous laughter as Chow tries so hard to be one with the queens and he is an easy character to get behind. Pulling in a restrained performance, Mark Lee definitely deserves his Best Actor nomination at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards.
Where the movie is most enjoyable is having Chow in the front and centre. Whether he is trying his hardest to tap into his feminine side or getting away in the nick of time when discovered by his family members, he is a delirious joy to watch.
The musical numbers is also another place where it shines, albeit intermittently. With eyelashes that reach for the sky, shimmery dresses that reflect every light from the disco ball and explosive hairdos you would never be caught dead on the streets with, ‘em gals know how to get it on. By ‘intermittent’, I mean some of the musical numbers became repetitive; they literally repeat some of the performances and songs. This really needed to be cooked a little longer with a few more song numbers. But I have to say watching Chow launch into Anita Mui’s 女人花 and a Hokkien version of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive does wash away some of the bad taste on my senses.
Character-wise, this is as thin as a rake. The backstories of the queens are painted in such a way as to elicit pity without sympathy and praise without empathy. The road to their redemption is paved in sincerity with utter familiarity.
Plot-wise, this feels like a made for TV feature with sub-plots that are never conclusive. For instance, the plot of Chow’s dire financial situation never did close on any note and his wife’s eventual acceptance of what Chow did is never drawn with any empathetic closure. Some ideas are dropped for a skit or two and then merely forgotten.
In terms of message, Number 1 isn’t brave enough to go one step further in its fight against homophobia and transphobia. At times it is too obvious when it should be subtle, a case in point would be the main character’s name, Chow Chee Beng. Any true blue Singaporean would get that. Number 1 doesn’t believe in being subt; being crass is the only way it knows how. Perhaps, it’s just there to plant the seeds of love for all kinds, but whether it would germinate is another story.
Written by Daniel Chiam
BookMyShow Singapore 
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