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Review
by Kozo: |
A
Benny Chan film is always worth a look. Chan is one
of Hong Kong's most dependable commercial film directors,
and even when he missteps (think Gen-Y Cops),
the result is usually entertaining, and hopefully
lucrative. His new flick, Divergence, fits
that bill handily; it's an involving thriller with
intriguing characters and a wait-for-the-final-act
mystery. And thanks to its trifecta of not-quite-bankable,
but still pretty damn popular stars, the film seems
to have some box-office potential. Sadly, Divergence
ultimately collapses beneath its incredible promise,
and becomes bizarre and even a bit silly. The stars
play against type, which might seem intriguing, but
usually spells doom for the popstar-obsessed masses,
who tend to like their stars one way only. Divergence
takes chances, a commendable move by the filmmakers
that could nevertheless doom word-of-mouth business.
But hey, at least the ride was good.
Aaron Kwok is Suen,
a rundown cop who once-upon-a-time was host of a cop
radio show. Those were fine days for Suen since he
had a loving girlfriend named Fong (Angelica Lee),
and a fine head of floppy popstar-style hair. Nowadays
Suen's hair is short and spiky, and Fong is gone -
literally. She's been missing for ten years, which
is the cause of Suen's beaten-up status and the object
of his constant obsession. Still, who has time for
old girlfriends when there's a case going on? Suen
is in the process of extraditing a portly accountant
from Canada back to HK, but the guy gets capped while
chained to Suen. The killer is Coke (Daniel Wu, in
a charismatic star turn), an oddly honorable assassin
who takes greater interest in Suen than he should.
Meanwhile, the fat accountant's death is a relief
for a corrupt businessman (Gallen Lo), whose money
laundering operation - and a fat wad of cash - has
been frozen by the cops, which obviously makes some
shadowy bad guys unhappy.
Suen's zeal for justice
- or his obsessive, manic personality - put him on
the case almost immediately. Enter To (Ekin Cheng),
a barrister who works for the corrupt businessman,
and basically makes a living protecting bad people
from the law. To and Suen immediately face off, but
sparks do not fly, because To is so stoic that he
may not even have a pulse. Ekin Cheng gives To a quiet,
cerebral quality, though it may be the actor's glasses
doing most of the acting. Apparently, there's something
going on with To, but Suen can't put his finger on
it. He's too busy chasing Coke, and just trying to
understand what the hell is going on. Coke has his
own issues with his handler Ting (Ning Jing), who
sleeps with him and could be hiding secrets of her
own. To top it all off, there's a string of mysterious
piano-wire killings going on, the corrupt businessman's
popstar son goes missing, and Suen has just stumbled
upon Fong after ten years of searching. Or has he?
Divergence is
loaded with so much detail that the upcoming DVD will
likely weigh 10 pounds. There's so much going on in
this movie that it could probably handle a three-hour
running time, though much of the happenings are internal.
The three main characters - Suen, To, and Coke - have
issues, and lots of them. They also have possible
shared pasts and hidden connections, and each man
has a pointedly complex personality. Suen is consumed
by his past, and his drive to do his job exists solely
because he obsesses over his missing girlfriend. To
feels guilt-ridden and anguished over helping bad
guys, but hides his feelings beneath an impenetrable
mask - or maybe just Ekin Cheng's impassive facial
expressions. And Coke is a flamboyant killer who takes
chances, but muses about how he could have been a
damn fine cop too. He's probably the most in tune
with his issues, but not so much that he'll avoid
stuff that he shouldn't be involved in. There's a
lot going on: hidden agendas, shadowy villains, split
psyches, and manly men who struggle with inner and
outer demons.
Too bad not all of it
makes sense. Divergence was written by Ivy
Ho of July Rhapsody and Comrades, Almost
a Love Story, and she creates copious detail and
intriguing characters. What she doesn't create is
a concrete resolution, or even the feeling that all
these details really mean anything besides their immediate
onscreen drama. Still, for a good three-quarters of
the film, the details and unfolding mystery make for
fascinating filmgoing. Benny Chan directs with sure
pacing, and manages one pulse-pounding action sequence
midway through the film. Suen chases Coke through
the streets of HK and into a local market in an energetic
and exciting sequence that plays to Chan's filmmaking
strengths. Chan also serves up an over-the-top action
finale, but that's where he falters. Events in Divergence build to a tense, emotionally-charged finale, but
when certain characters run around sporting guns,
everything just gets silly. Add that to sudden revelations,
a bizarre conclusion, and some over-emotional acting
from Aaron Kwok, and you have a movie that simply
screams, "What the-?"
If anything, Divergence is simply too complex, and makes a few notable missteps.
Aside from the weird ending (the fates of some characters
seem more pointless than anything), there's the casting.
Both Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok play against type,
with unconvincing to satisfactory results. Ekin Cheng
seems miscast as the quietly intense To, though the
filmmakers spend so little time with his character
that he barely has a chance to do anything. Aaron
Kwok is surprisingly sympathetic, and gives his hangdog,
rumpled cop an everyman likability. That is, until
he's required to cry, whereupon all his audience credibility
gets thrown out the window. Suen gets teary on more
than one occasion, and while the silent "tear
rolls down the cheek" moments work, the "cry
in anguish" moments are more camp than compelling.
When the big emotional moments happen, Kwok appears
to be acting in a bad music video - or maybe in a
silent film - instead of an emotionally complex motion
picture. Maybe Benny Chan should have said "cut"
a lot sooner.
Still, regular fans of HK
Cinema should check out Divergence for a number
of reasons. One, it's an attempt at intelligent commercial
cinema, and the twisting mysteries and slow revelations
are largely involving. Two, Benny Chan is a technically
superior, if sometimes incomplete filmmaker who usually
makes stuff worth watching. And three, it's the long-awaited Storm Riders reunion! That's right, Divergence gives Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng a chance to face off
again on the big screen, but instead of a comic book
fantasy, we get a psychological thriller featuring
Wind and Cloud as a couple of messed up dudes. The
creative casting is interesting, but possibly a turnoff
to loyal audiences who only like Ekin Cheng as awesome
triad heroes, or Aaron Kwok as colorblind dancing
instructors. If anything, the casting - and the resulting
cinematic fallout - makes for good conversation. Amazingly,
all the above builds a pretty decent house of cards...but
like any house of cards, it eventually collapses.
From a "glass half full" perspective, we
should just be glad that it works for as long as it
does. It's bumpy and goes nowhere, but for a good
portion of its running time, Divergence is
an okay enough ride. (Kozo 2005) |
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