Lifelong fans of American cop thrillers should appreciate the manner in which director Wai-keung Lau adapts the familiar cliches of the genre for Asian audiences while screenwriters Felix Chong and Sui Fai Mak throw some clever new twists into the mix.
Lau and Disorder
Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers) is impeccably cool in the role of Ming, a wannabe gangster picked by HK ganglord Hon Sam (Eric Tsang) to infiltrate the local police force.
Ming trains as a cadet and upon graduation rises through the ranks to become a trusted member of the squad.
Meanwhile, another cadet, Yan (Tony Leung), has been working undercover in Sam's gang and has worked his way into the ganglord's inner circle.
The crusty crime boss begins to suspect he has a spy in his organization round about the same time Yan's superior, Inspector Wong (Anthony Wong), realizes that someone on the police payroll is feeding valuable information to the city's criminal element.
Both Ming and Yan (the yin and yang of the plot, if you will), are ordered by their superiors to find the double agent in their midst.
The tension mounts as each man uses all the cunning and resources at his disposal to try and uncover the identity of the other. In the process both gangster and cop begin to lose sight of whose side they are on.
While Yan flirts with his therapist (Asian pop star Kelly Chen) Ming plays slap and tickle with his fiancee (singer/actress Sammi Cheng), an aspiring novelist writing a book about multiple personalities, unaware that she has some invaluable source material right under her nose.
Leung Breathes Life Into Role
Asian superstar Tony Leung earned his action stripes long ago in director John Woo's classic HK shoot-em-up Hard Boiled. However, he can also play deeply internalized characters like the melancholy journalist in director Wong Kar-Wai's haunting romantic drama in the Mood for Love. Here the gifted actor brings a weary soulful ambiguity to the role of a dedicated cop who has been undercover too long for his psychological health.
The film uses the ingenious premise to explore themes of loyalty, morality and identity in this crisply shot and suspenseful thriller.
Tony Leung and Andy Lau make for a riveting onscreen pair. Together they bring a charisma and conviction to the film that transcends all boundaries of geography, language and culture.
Richard Goertz - Richard Goertz has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English and History acquired light years ago (when his hair was longer) and have ...
