GTH gives up-and-coming director Mate Tharakorn, who co-directed The Little Comedian (2010), a chance to fly solo with ATM. After the release of trailers and the soundtrack during New Year, ATM has created a buzz, and moviegoers waiting for GTH’s romantic comedy after the highly successful Bangkok Traffic Love Story (2009) and Hello Stranger (2010) flicks have high expectations. ATM follows the pattern of those two hits as a decent movie that’s worth checking out.
The film starts with the love story of bankers Sue (Chantawit Thanasewee) and Jib (Preechaya Pongthananikorn), who put their career at risk because of their secret three-year relationship. Their employer JNBC Bank bars employees from dating each other because of a Japanese study that claims 85% of couples who work together bring their private issues to work and 57% are likely to participate in workplace corruption. Their problem arises when Sue asks Jib to marry him and the two must decide who will quit. In the midst of their personal conflict, Jib is ordered to investigate an ATM error after the machine gives twice as much as they withdraw money to clients. Solving the ATM-error mystery becomes a competition for Sue and Jib, who agree that the loser will be the one to quit their job.
It’s easy to imagine ATM becoming a money-making machine for GTH and the box office. The film’s fresh plot flows seamlessly and jokes abound during the main characters’ adventure. But some scenes, like sending the wounded crocodile to a human hospital or the weird showing of affection by one couple, make for some eye-rolling moments. At times this rom-com flick feels more like a slapstick comedy because it has so many jokes and so little romance. At the end, however, the director concentrates on the love and aims to teach viewers that if you have true love, you’re always a winner—even when you lose the game.