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Review
by Kozo: |
Surprisingly engaging fluff from Wong Jing casts Andy Lau
as Wah Dee (cue Moment of Romance theme music), a really
rude fellow who’s actually a pretty nice guy. His profession
is of the triad variety, but he’s a strange one: he collects
no protection money and sells bootleg VCDs. Wah lives with
his wacky mom (Deannie Yip), who shakes him down for money
when she’s not acting wacky. Wah’s best pal Tart (Nick Cheung)
and a priest (Spencer Lam) also live with Wah, forming a really
strange nuclear family.
The plot (or random grouping of events
that - when linked together - resemble a plot) is kicked into
motion when Tart’s girlfriend Salad (Suki Kwan) is assigned
to guide a visiting Shanghai heiress named Ice (Michelle Reis).
Ice is visiting with her rich dad Yu Rong-Guang, but her true
goal is to find her long lost mother. Somehow this leads her
into Wah’s care and Ice is quite willing to slum it in HK,
eating roast pork and sleeping on the floor. You see, Ice
is one of those magical rich girls that only exist in totally
unrealistic movies or Japanimation. Besides being amazingly
beautiful (not much of a stretch for Michelle Reis), Ice is
also giving, kind, curious, and totally non-judgmental. Wah
is rude and uncouth, but Ice is charmed and grows to like
him.
Of course this whole set up is a
total joke but to be honest it’s actually somewhat entertaining.
The fun chemistry between Lau and Reis really works; Lau manages
to make his smarmy persona into something appealing, and Reis
is charming and sweet. Plot kicks in when dad thinks Ice has
been kidnapped and Wah becomes the number one suspect. This
leads to all sorts of hijinks, much of it being Mom’s attempts
to get Wah together with Ice. Deannie Yip overacts like a
madwoman and is both amusing and annoying. There’s action
too, but not a whole lot. This isn’t a gem, but for commercial
fluff it does the job. (Kozo 1999) |
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