Third in the unrelated sleaze series from grand wizard
Wong Jing is actually the tamest of the bunch. It’s
an erotic thriller that steals more from U.S. thrillers
than HK ones, meaning more attention to plot and less
gratuitous nudity (though there are some HK specific
moments of wackiness courtesy of detective Simon Lui).
It's the year 2001, and Alex
Fong (looking a bit like Richard Gere) is Chief Executive
candidate Li Chi-Shen. Li is rising in the polls but
has a psychological problem: he sees “illusions” of
naked women when he gets stressed out.
Compounding things is an icy
relationship with his wife (Kenix Kwok) and the presence
of a serial rapist within his own campaign building.
Why such a thing hasn’t destroyed his credibility is
beyond me, but things don’t really get rough for Li
until semi-retarded office lady Chi (Pinky Cheung) gets
raped and fingers Li as the culprit.
Li knows he has a bit of a
libido, but he can’t remember what happened. His alibi
is old flame Ho Wai-Yee (Angie Cheung), who’s now his
psychologist bent on helping him with his “illusion”
problem. It seems they were trysting on a yacht while
the rape took place. Unfortunately, Li fails a DNA test
and his popularity tumbles. While Chi’s brother (John
Ching) wants Li hung, sympathetic detective Luk (Simon
Lui, who’s fast becoming welcome support in cheap genre
exercises) believes that Li may be innocent.
This is passable trashy entertainment
that isn’t as offensive as its predecessors. Alex Fong
is an actor with an underlying integrity, but this role
is probably beneath his abilities. Aiding the overall
effect of the film are decent production values and
music that apes the work of Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard
Herrmann. Unfortunately, the film chooses to leave things
ambiguous and that leaves us with really no reason to
watch the film. (Kozo 1998) |
