F***/Off (1998)

First up, this is neither a rip-off nor a spoof of the similarly named John Woo film. In fact, the translated Cantonese title (Ah Li, PaPa: The Robbers) is more appropriate. I found the movie to be an enjoyably neat little low-budget comedy; well made, well written and well cast. Essentially it's about a slightly macho drifter PaPa (Dayo Wong) and a retrenched bank clerk Superman Li Ka Sing (Cheung Tat-ming appropriating the name of a Hong Kong property magnate) and the circumstances leading to their first bank robbery. PaPa needs to prove his worth to both his girlfriend (Angela Tong Ying-ying) and his ex-rascal mate LoLo (Lai Yiu-cheung in yet another cool role). Ah Sing, on the other hand, has a 3 million dollar debt owing to a sinister debt collector (the horrible Bobby Yip/Baat Leung Gum).

The film is stylishly directed by Abe Kwong Man-wai and propelled along by a consistent score by Wai Kai-leung (with subtitled lyrics by the two main stars). The comedy is barely drops off and is gorgeous stupidity. Though not credited with the script, Cheung and Wong must have lent a hand as their usual off-beat styles appear alongside the occasional sub-themes of masculinity in HK. The support cast is equally good, including Vincent Kok and Matt Chow, as well as Law Lan. She plays a very persistent policewoman.

DVD information: Good value, this disc but you get decent extras to boot. The trailer is there, as well as biographies for Dayo Wong, Cheung Tat-ming and Angela Tong. There's so little English-language information published on these actors otherwise, and the bios turn out as nicely-written fact-finders. The ten-minute featurette "Making of" is, unsurprisingly, behind-the-scenes/making-of stuff. The footage is a peek into the filming, and includes interviews with Lai Yiu-cheung, Baat Leung Gum and Dayo Wong. The stunts footage is intriguing stuff. It's a pity Angela Tong is left out of the making-of section, as she could have added some English language to the otherwise unsubtitled footage. The main feature looks very good and has the usual two languages and three sets of subtitles. Eight chapters are provided, but the placement seems off. This disc is released by Universe.

Credits:

Directed by Abe Kwong Man Wai
Produced by Wong Jing
Starring Dayo Wong, Cheung Tat-ming, Tong Ying-ying, Lai Yiu-cheung, Baat Leung Gum, Matt Chow, Law Lan and Simon Loui