All of a Sudden (1996)


	All of a Sudden		Return to Review Archive - A
	Year:	1996	Irene Wan and Alfred Cheung
	Director:	Herman Yau Lai-To
	Producer:	Nam Yin
	Cast:	Simon Yam Tat-Wah, Irene Wan Pik-Ha, Alfred Cheung Kin-Ting, Dayo Wong Chi-Wah, Peter Ngor Chi-Kwan
	The Skinny:	Herman Yau's thriller uses numerous plot twists and a rather dark tone to weave a consistently entertaining experience.
	Review by Kozo:	Convoluted plotting ahead: Simon Yam’s wife dies of an apparent suicide so he goes after her former lover, Alfred Cheung, who supposedly jilted her. Things go awry and he ends up kidnapping Alfred’s wife Irene Wan and their young son. Simon gets persuaded by his nasty friend Bill (cinematographer Peter Ngor) to ask for a ransom, and he does. Still, Simon is a nice fellow who even takes time out of his busy crime schedule to take Irene and Alfred’s son to the local hospital. Alfred pays the ransom and Irene goes home safe. But that’s when things get interesting. Alfred never paid the full ransom, or is somebody holding out? Why do Irene’s brakes go out the next day? And what happened to Bill? Did Simon’s wife commit suicide or was she pushed? And is Simon really such a nice guy? Will detective Dayo Wong act annoying and solve the crime or will he just act annoying? And how far can this film push its Category IIB limits? The answer to the last question is pretty damn far, but for the rest of the answers you’ll have to see the movie. Herman Yau’s dark thriller is interesting and at times quite surprising. It seems everyone has something up their sleeve that you don’t know about until later in the flick, making for lots of u-turns, backtrackings, and general wonderings about what’s really going on. This isn’t the most special film, but it’s certainly entertaining for its multiple plot twists and occasional detours into darkness. (Kozo 1996)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Widesight Entertainment Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks English and Chinese subtitles

		image courtesy of Fitto Mobile Laser Co., Ltd.
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