Dominic Kebre

Crazy Love, Moo-Moo – a light comedy, and solid entertainment Comedy is a tricky genre for writers, directors, and actors alike. A writer may find things funny that viewers may find lame or OTT. Directors need to find the right dose of funny scenes, which have to be balanced by more serious or romantic ones. For actors, timing is extremely important in comedies. On top of all this, different cultures have different definitions of what is funny. I have seen some Thai BL comedies I didn’t find funny at all, e.g. when handicapped persons, or worse, trans persons, were being ridiculed, characters were simply stupid, or the acting was completely over the top. Fortunately, nothing like this happens in “Crazy Love, Moo-Moo“. The series does have some hilarious slapstick comedy, but it never ridicules any of the protagonists, and it isn’t shallow in the sense that the characters are mere clichés. Fu (Boss Chaikamon) is the heir of a rich Thai-Chinese family of hotel owners and has had a crush on his younger brother Tai’s (Turbo Chanokchon) friend Moo (Noeul Nuttarat) for a long time, but doesn’t know how to approach him. Although Moo likes him, he wouldn’t admit it and tries to keep Fu at a distance. Fu and Moo are in contact on an app without knowing who they are chatting with, and when Fu writes he wants to quit the app as he already has someone he loves, although he doesn’t know how to win his heart, Moo offers him to become his love doctor. They take quite a while to find out they have been chatting with each other, which is already funny in itself. When Moo applies for an internship in Fu’s hotel, he is of course hired. From that day on, Fu keeps courting Moo, who plays hard to get, although he is secretly flattered that the handsome, rich man wants to make him his boyfriend. It doesn’t take long until they get closer, and then the trouble begins. Moo feels haunted by Fu, e.g. when he imagines seeing him in every corner of a club. Fu, on the other hand, becomes jealous when he sees other men approaching Moo. After some time, Moo, on the other hand, also becomes jealous, especially when celebrity Kluayhom (Earth Katsamonat), Moo’s long-time arch-enemy, is sweet-talking Fu. Moo and Kluayhom’s dance battle in a club is one of the funniest scenes of the series. Fu and Moo already get physical at an early stage, and when they share the bed on a business trip, they become a couple. To Moo’s embarrassment, Fu goes public in front of the hotel’s staff, which makes Moo the target of some jealousy and bullying. But as he is a very gentle, nice guy, he is soon accepted by his co-workers. Soon Fu introduces Moo to his family, and Moo impresses Fu’s strict father by performing a hilarious Chinese tea ceremony, a gorgeous scene Noeul must have rehearsed a lot. Fu’s first meeting with Moo’s family is another highlight of the series, mainly because of Moo’s intimidating older sister Lee (Ma Supattra). Toward the end of the series, there is a dangerous situation at the hotel, when a mafia boss is holding his wedding party as a cover of a drug trade. Police try to arrest him, but before he is actually caught, he shoots at Moo and Fu, who both remain unharmed as Fu’s right-hand man Ryan (Mote Pramote) is hit by the shot, a graze that hasn’t done much harm. The main source of comedy in this series is the “opposites attract“ constellation of the main couple (I’ll say more about the other couples in the “actors section“ below). Fu is a successful businessman, and a goodhearted person, but completely helpless with respect to matters of courting and love. Moo appears to be naive at first, but he is a down-to-earth young man who is dedicated to make his way in life, and without the help of others. He is goodhearted, too, but mischievous at the same time. Writers/directors Film Pawis and Sandwich Panupong have written a script that includes screwball comedy, situation comedy, romance, and spicy NC scenes, and they guide the actors sensitively to act freaking funny sometimes, but loving and caring in more quiet moments. I was wondering whether Boss would be able to pull off the comedian, but he does so brilliantly, and often with a wink of self-irony that make scenes very funny that would have been completely over the top if executed by a less talented actor. I think it is an important step in his acting career to play something completely different from his roles in “Love in the Air“ and “The Boy From Another World“. The same can be said about Noeul, whose acting has improved a lot since LITA. His Moo-Moo has a lot of facets as he grows from the somewhat insecure student into the young man who gets along with his co-workers, masters all the tasks given to him, and is actually the one who controls the pace of the lead characters’ relationship. BossNoeul work very well as a couple, and they have proven before that they don’t shy away from going all-in in NC scenes. They convey the feeling in viewers that they really feel comfortable around each other. Now let me come to the supporting actors, all of whom are doing a great job. There is one thing I have to complain about – the side couples are all highly interesting, but unfortunately they share the fate of many BL second, third, and, as in this case even fourth couples, i.e. their screentime is very limited, and their stories fragmentary. Fu’s brother Tai (Turbo) falls for Yu (Noh Phouluang), a man with 6 or 7 jobs. Turbo has more scenes as Tai is Moo’s friend and Fu’s brother, and he has proven in many roles that he is a fine actor. Tai supports Moo at every stage of his relationship with his brother, and his teenage love-doctor wisdom is conveyed in all sincerety. I like Noh as an actor, too, but he is only seen in a few scenes. Well, at least he takes off his shirt once. Fu’s youngest brother Tee Lek (Poom Wachirapanya) courts Jeab (Effect Narawit), and whereas Poom, a rookie as an actor, perfectly personifies the clumsy teenager, who overestimates himself and is devastated when Jeab pushes him away more often than not. Tee Lek’s courting gets on Jeab’s nerves most of the time, but Jeab’s good acting indicates that he actually likes him. Effect is a rookie, too, but he’s a talented young man. And then there is Moo’s friend Tian (Donut Suppawit) who is heartbroken when the police officer, who he’d been in a relationship with, breaks up with him. Toward the end of the series, he meets Mark (actor unknown) and falls for him immediately. Both of Tian’s relationships remain almost completely in the dark, which is a pity as Donut is not only very handsome, but a good actor, too. As it says at the end of the series “to be continued“, I hope there will be a second season or a spin-off focusing on the side couples. I need to mention one of the comic highlights of the show, i.e. Fu’s visit to Moo’s family. Ma Supattra as Moo’s dominant sister is absolutely hilarious, be it as the “fashion show model“ or the scary girl who makes Fu tremble with fear. I also need to mention Earth Katsamonat, whose acting in many roles wasn’t really good. When he plays Kluayhom in this series, he doesn’t need to act at all – he can just be Earth, and that is something he is really good at. “Crazy Love, Moo-Moo“ is a comedy that does not pretend to compete with Shakespeare’s plays, but it’s funny without being completely shallow. In frightening times like this, and among all the BL series addressing serious topics from fatal illness to rape and even murder, it’s nice to watch a light comedy once in a while, and this series is certainly solid entertainment.