Despite
veering a little into too-muchness on occasion, this is pretty good, a light
medical dramedy with good performances and engaging characters.
One
night, when a thief is shot by a police officer in a Hong Kong slum, locally-practicing
Dr. Lau Mack treats him and accompanies him to a nearby hospital, where he’s
the only one who sees how to extract the bullet without the patient suffering
brain damage. There, he gains the
attention of Roger, an old friend from medical school, and Sam, a young doctor
impressed with Dr. Lau’s expertise. Sam
tracks Dr. Lau down at his shabby little practice and begs for the opportunity
to work with him. Under Dr. Lau’s sharp
but eccentric tutelage, Sam learns a lot about being a doctor, both personally
and professionally.
The
film’s biggest flaw is probably a tendency to make Dr. Lau a bit too low-key
saint-like. While his odd quirks can
bewilder those around him and his seemingly-cold attitudes can make Sam shout,
“Do you even have a heart?” at crucial moments, the film is peppered with him
unassumingly going about his business while another character monologues about
some noble thing he did or sacrifice he made in the past. It gets hokey, for sure, and it’s only
partially balanced out by the edge in the film’s tone at other places. Still, it only gets mildly eye-rolling.
Other
than that, it’s a fairly solid movie. I
like the colorful cast of locals who fill Dr. Lau’s world, from prostitutes to
beggars to preachers. There’s a decent
amount of interest among the more prominent characters, too: Dr. Lau’s police-officer buddy, a sweet
cancer patient (again, a little saccharine and pretty predictable, but I do
like her,) a high-class Hemingway-reading hooker, a rich girl looking to do a
little good, and Sam himself, who acquits himself reasonably well in his new
environment.
Additionally,
I like the theme the movie explores when it comes to what you might call
charitable medical practice. Despite Dr.
Lau’s obvious dedication to the patients in his pay-as-you-can clinic, he’s
wary of doctors with dreams of “serving in Africa” because he feels a need to
know their motivations first. Something
of a reverse of Tahani on The Good Place,
he’s not interested in service done for the sake of personal acclaim.
Dr. Lau
is a rather interesting character for Tony Leung Chiu-wai to play. He has elements of other characters we’ve
seen from Leung – sardonic sense of humor, makes a show of indifference but
cares more than he lets on, smooth with the ladies – but it combines into a
character that feels like something different.
I particularly like his weird quirks and just-try-to-keep-up randomness.
Not that
I’d call Dr. Lau one of Leung’s best performances or most interesting characters.
Rather, he’s someone who defies my expectations of him at several turns,
which ultimately helps him stand out from other stories about charming and
saintly doctors serving the less fortunate; I appreciate being surprised.
Recommend?
In
General
– I think so. While it’s cheesy in places,
it has enough going for it that it doesn’t feel overly typical.
Tony
Leung Chiu-wai
– Maybe. Like I said, this character has
recognizable qualities from others Leung has played, but the result feels like
something different.
Warnings
Violence,
sexual content (including prostitution,) drinking/smoking, a few racist jokes
that seem to come out of nowhere, and thematic elements.
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