I’m glad I was finally able to get my hands on this movie! It marks the first time Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau have partnered onscreen together in 20 years—not since the Infernal Affairs movies! This stylish crime drama is a nice showcase for both of them.
Lau Kai Yeun is part of an anti-corruption agency, and after years of chasing, he’s finally on the verge of nabbing a particularly big fish: Ching Yat Yin, also known as Henry. Once Lau brings Henry into custody, the wild story of his meteoric business success (fueled by rampant stock manipulation) is told through a series of interviews and flashbacks.
The film is written and directed by Felix Chong—Leung has worked with him on numerous films, but maybe most notably on Infernal Affairs, where he was one of the screenwriters. I can definitely see some shared lineage between the two movies, even if they’re ultimately very different. This one has a pretty breezy style, filled with snappy montages and cool dialogue like, “A house full of thieves is easy to rob.” There are a lot of characters involved in what gets to be a pretty complex web, but the film reels them out gradually enough that it isn’t too hard to keep track of everyone.
If I was going to describe the vibe of this film, I’d say it’s the product of a one-night-stand between The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can. It’s got the sleazy 1980s business/finance stuff, with ostentatious displays of wealth and lots of people getting super amped about stock prices (not to mention screwing each other over!) And it’s centered around the cat-and-mouse game of the dogged investigator vs. the crook who seems to feel that evading jail is just part of the fun.
Andy Lau turns in some nice, solid work as Lau Kai Yeun. It’s a fairly understated role for him—and he admittedly has less exciting material to work with than Leung—but he sells it well. I buy him as this serious, by-the-book guy who’s been meticulously looking for the evidence he needs to topple Henry Ching’s shady operation.
Speaking of Henry Ching, that’s where Leung comes in. It’s a very different sort of role for him. Especially on the surface, Henry is all about flash and swagger, flaunting his wealth and reveling in his “too big to fail” good times. He wears loud suits and has risen from humble beginnings to become the biggest name in town (via oodles of corruption, of course!) If Lau’s performance is more understated than is usual for him, Leung’s is much bigger. It’s a lot of fun to watch him tear it up onscreen!
But what makes it work especially well for me are the glimpses we see behind the flash and swagger. Henry uses his larger-than-life personality and eye-catching wardrobe as a sort of sleight-of-hand to distract you from what’s really going on. He gets his start in Hong Kong pulling a con, and that sensibility carries into his businesses as well. In truth, while the glitz and excess distract you, his wheels are always turning. This quieter, shrewder side of him is in sharp contrast with the image he projects, and Leung does a wonderful job navigating between the two.
It's funny—I’m in the middle of posting my reviews of La Máquina, which features the long-awaited acting reunion between Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, and now we’ve got this film, which was similarly promoted as “Andy Lau and Tony Leung Onscreen Together Again!!!” But in both projects, the acting duo actually spends the majority of their screentime apart from one another. Lau Kai Yeun is interviewing Henry Ching and his various associates, but for much of the film, that’s a framing device for extended flashbacks that chart Henry’s trajectory in the business world. And in the flashbacks, the two men don’t really have anything to do with each other. (Come to think of it, Infernal Affairs is kind of the same way—Leung and Lau don’t really have that many scenes together.)
But like with La Máquina, the scenes where we do get to see Leung and Lau playing opposite each other are some of the best in the film. I love how Henry responds to Lau Kai Yeun. Even in the face of interrogations and accusations, he’s almost unfailingly calm and confident, like he still knows he has the upper hand. Because frequently, he does. Against Lau Kai Yeun’s frustrations and disgust, Henry carries himself like a man who’s in on the joke and just waiting for the punchline to hit. Such a stellar dynamic, and Leung and Lau are both killing it here!
Recommend?
In General – I think so. The film drags in places, but it’s fun, cool, and full of good acting.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Definitely! Leung delivers handily in this complex performance that falls outside his more typical wheelhouse.
Warnings
Violence, language, sexual content, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.
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