Tricky Brains (1991)



	Tricky Brains		Return to Review Archive - T
	\| review \| availability \|		Everybody dance: Stephen Chow and Andy Lau
	Year:	1991
	Director:	Wong Jing
	Cast:	Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Ng Man-Tat, Rosamund Kwan Chi-Lam, Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching, Waise Lee Chi-Hung, Wong Jing, Shing Fui-On, John Ching Tung, Charlie Cho Cha-Lei
	The Skinny:	Great fun starring Andy Lau and Stephen Chow. Content-wise, this is typical Wong Jing, but the terrific stars and fun shtick make for a good time.
	Review by Kozo:	Megastar comedian Stephen Chow plays the Handsome Tricky Expert Koo, a professional trickster who'll play tricks for a fee. He's hired by the scummy Waise Lee, who wants to oust rival Andy Lau from the workplace. Koo takes the job, and pretends to be the long-lost son of Lau's father Ng Man-Tat. Somehow the scam works and Koo is brought into their home and family. Then there's tons and tons of bizarre shtick, which leads to the obvious question: will Koo go through with the plan to take down the good guys? Or will he act on the behalf of jerky yuppies like Waise Lee? Wackiness exists from frame one of this obvious Wong Jing product, which is merely a series of parodies, sudden musical numbers, and simply bizarre behavior that would never be tolerated in any form of reality. It's also great fun, as it gives Stephen Chow the chance to once again prove his superiority over his friends and foes alike. His actions may break his surrogate family, but they can also bring them back from the brink of disaster. His actions can also net him the attentions of comely Chingmy Yau, and save Lau's relationship with Rosamund Kwan. Boy, Stephen Chow is just all powerful in these movies, isn't he? Wong Jing wrings the best from his cast and manages to throw in some truly funny stuff. It's all rather pointless and sophomoric, and some jokes are in extremely bad taste. Still, Stephen Chow is a wonderful comedian, and his pairing with Lau is a good one. While not a fantastic actor, Andy Lau is at least a game performer willing to subject himself to all forms of embarrassment in the name of entertainment. Tricky Brains adds credence to the idea that Wong Jing's films succeed or fail according to his performers. His taste is questionable, and his rip-offs shameless (he steals some gags from the Police Academy movies), but he can make fun populist entertainment on occasion. This just happens to be one of those occasions. (Kozo 1996/1998)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
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