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Review
by Kozo: |
The Pang Brothers return
to form. Or at least they deliver a movie that doesn't
squander its potential. The once-acclaimed wunderkind
filmmakers have seen their stock steadily decline
since 2002's The Eye, what with that film's
uninspiring sequels, plus the Pangs' solo projects
which alternately intrigue and infuriate. Directed
by Oxide Pang, The Detective manages to intrigue
but not infuriate, and uses the tried-and-true Pang
style for a mostly refreshing genre experience unlike
what one usually sees from the Pang Brothers. Add
in a sweaty and entertaining performance by Aaron
Kwok, the trademark messy-beautiful Pang Brothers
look, an oddly effective discordant soundtrack, and
a decent story, and you have a solid, if not spectacular
commercial film that seems pretty darn good because
most Hong Kong movies aren't anymore. There's not
much here that's very new, but that's okay because
originality is hard to come by. It's all relative
over here, and relatively speaking, The Detective
is a fine little movie.
Aaron Kwok stars as Tam,
a rumpled, nearsighted detective in Thailand who's
not as much seedy as he is simply sloppy. Tam could
have been a cop, but his poor vision has relegated
him to a private dick that follows adulterers and
other assorted minor rule-breakers. His new case,
however, is a doozy. Freaked-out acquaintance Lung
(Shing Fui-On) shows up and is willing to pay whatever
price Tam requires for him to find a woman named Sum.
Lung maintains that Sum is trying to kill him, and
provides a single photo for him to begin his investigation.
Tam happily takes the case, and begins to investigate,
leading to a deepening mystery that only gets murkier
as he progresses. First of all, nobody has seemingly
seen Sum in days, and each new lead Tam follows usually
uncovers a dead body or possible mortal danger. The
discoveries are related in the usual Pang bombastic
fashion, meaning loud drum beats, sometimes surprising
shock cuts, and twitchy camera movements meant to
amp up the suspense.
The style works, because
unlike older Pang efforts, the tension isn't created
by some ghost that's usually harmless, but by the
discovery of dead bodies or sudden physical danger
that could put Tam in the hospital, or worse. Oxide
Pang effectively puts the audience inside Tam's shoes,
using copious style to convey the tension and even
paranoia Tam must be feeling. Aiding matters is Aaron
Kwok, whose jaunty demeanor and popstar smile are
used to create a character who's less clever than
he pretends to be, and may ultimately be somewhat
of a dork. Tam is an earnest, but not very smart detective,
as he frequently finds himself in danger, or simply
bothering the cops too much, as pointed out by cop
friend Chak (the entertaining Liu Kai-Chi). The Chinese
title of the film translates as "C+ Detective",
which is also Cantonese wordplay for "Private
Detective", telling you pretty much all there
is to know about Tam. He's not very successful, a
detail elucidated by his backstory, involving the
disappearance of his parents and how he was never
able to find them. His current vocation is due largely
to this troubled past, and though the ensuing years
haven't brought much success, he's still trying. The
idea here is that the deepening mystery will bring
understanding and even redemption of Tam's character.
If Tam is lucky, he'll solve the case too.
Still, despite the generous
territory covered by the film's screenplay, the character
of Tam isn't connected to the film's mystery in a
convincing manner. There's an attempt to give Tam
a personal stake in the case, but details seem tacked
on. Ultimately, The Detective is less substance
than style - though the style seems to be enough to
tide us through this time. Unlike other style-over-substance
Pang Brothers works, The Detective doesn't
provide out-of-nowhere twists or left-field surprises
that undermine what came before, and manages to stay
on-track with the film's narrative. Oxide Pang keeps
the film moving in entertaining fashion, delivering
red herrings and quirky characters in quick succession.
Jo Koo has a brief part as a sexed-up suspect, and
appearances by all sorts of Hong Kong entertainment
faces, including the long-missing Elle Choi, former
TVB starlet Kiki Sheung, current TVB fixture Lai Yiu-Cheung,
and Big Sillyhead himself, Shing Fui-On, add to the
fun factor. The investigation itself is a lot of Aaron
Kwok staring at photos, writing on a chalkboard, or
keying through his mobile phone, but Kwok makes the
character work by never overacting, and frequently
allows his entertaining wardrobe and apparent ineptness
upstage him. Let it be said: Aaron Kwok is now worth
watching in Hong Kong movies. This may not have been
true before Divergence, but it's certainly
true now - acting awards or not. Kwok probably shouldn't
get an acting award for The Detective, but
that's more a fault of the material than the actor
himself.
As a Pang Brothers production,
The Detective is a step in the right direction
as it mostly deviates from their previous genres.
The film may even fool some viewers who aren't expecting
any sort of twists, though truthfully, some details
are a bit muddled. The film has a rather intricate
series of events that don't entirely hold up under
scrutiny, and Oxide Pang seemingly knows this, adding
a couple of flashbacks at the end of the film to explain
things more clearly. The problem is that this extra
detail makes the film drag unnecessarily, plus there
are still many events in the film that remain ambiguous.
The result is a film that's more of a ride than a
complete experience, but Oxide Pang puts together
a very enjoyable ride, from the manipulated tension
to his dirty, meticulously art-directed vision of
Thailand. This isn't the next coming of The Eye,
but for Hong Kong commercial film, it's a solid piece
of work. Together and on their own, the Pangs have
made numerous missteps during their prolific filmography,
but they undeniably have filmmaking talent. The
Detective at least reminds us of that. (Kozo 2007) |
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