The Case of the Cold Fish (1995)



	The Case of the Cold Fish		Return to Review Archive - C
	Year:	1995	Michael Chow and Michael Wong
	Director:	Jamie Luk Kin-Ming
	Producer:	Danny Lee Sau-Yin
	Cast:	Michael Chow Man-Kin, Michael Wong Mun-Tak, Emily Kwan Bo-Wai, Valerie Chow Kar-Ling, Shing Fui-On, Mak Kei, Yi Fan-Wai, Danny Lee Sau-Yin
	The Skinny:	A genuinely funny and offbeat cop comedy. Michael Chow and Michael Wong are good sports, managing to make fun of themselves as well as each other.
	Review by Kozo:	This off-beat cop mystery movie from producer Danny Lee is an unexpected pleasure. Michael Chow is the chief cop of Tai O, a small town on Lantau Island that moves at an absurdly slow pace. When a local man turns up dead, head cop Danny Lee (in a requisite cameo) sends in chief inspector Michael Wong to crack the case. What Michael gets is culture shock as the dysfunctional locals baffle him with their hilariously skewed ways. First they throw him in jail, and things only get worse after that. What Wong discovers is that nearly everyone wanted the murder victim dead, and cracking the case is going to take more than his SDU-hardened police methods. What he needs is a good dose of laid-back Tai O investigation courtesy of Michael Chow, who’s terrific as the overweight, lackadaisical chief. Director Lok Kim-Ming orchestrates events with a perfect tone and pace. The execution is terrific, and the major laughs are a product of simple character interaction. The main fun of this film lies not in any overdone antics, but in the believable eccentricity of Tai O’s residents. A great running joke involves Michael Wong’s gweilo qualities, which he has the good humor to parody. A genuine sleeper. (Kozo 1997)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC City Connection Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Star Laserdisc Co.
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