Despite the presence of Hong Kong’s most overworking director (and by that I mean overediting, overwriting) Andrew Lau, I was looking forward to Confessions of Pain - two actors facing off in solving a complicated murder mystery. It’s a typical Hollywood buddy movie, except both characters are the straight-faced leading men, so everything is played more serious than ever. Nevertheless, with the Infernal Affairs team, I’m looking for at least something well-written and probably horribly directed. But at least it’d be well-written.
The reviews are out, and it’s not looking well. While I’m personally waiting for Lovehkfilm’s Kozo to weight in on it, the first “official” review is from Malaysia’s Cinema Online. The reviewer finds the movie servicable, but it “never quite finds its pulse.” However, I’d take film reviews of films with possibly controversial aspects from Malaysia with a grain of salt, because from what I understand, the censors would take out possibly objectionable content (something as innocent as a makeout scene). Correct me if I’m wrong.
On the other hand, the not-so-wise user comment section of mov3.com are also quite mixed. Some are disappointed because they went in expecting another Infernal Affairs, some like it because of the script, and some hate the script, saying it feels like something from a TVB drama. Having grown up watching TVB dramas, I would say that is a pretty bad thing to call a film.
Hopefully, if the box office numbers hold up, I should be watching it in about 3 weeks or so, and then I can hate on it like everyone else.
