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Lawyer Lawyer
Chinese: 算死草 "Look into my eyes..."
Eric Kot gets scolded by Stephen Chow
Year: 1997
Director: Joe Ma Wai-Ho
Cast: Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, Eric Kot Man-Fai, Karen Mok Man-Wai, Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching, Bowie Lam Bo-Yi, Lee Kin-Yan, Moses Chan Ho, Paul Fonoroff, Wyman Wong Wai-Man, Madam Nancy (Lan Sai), Chung King-Fai, Lee Siu-Kei, Law Kar-Ying, Cheung Tat-Ming, Vincent Kok Tak-Chiu, Simon Lui Yu-Yeung, Tats Lau Yi-Tat, Spencer Lam Seung-Yi,Leila Tong Ling
The Skinny: Substandard for a Stephen Chow film, but still quite funny and amusing.
 
Review
by Kozo:

In a return to the talky antics of Justice, My Foot! and Hail the Judge, Stephen Chow plays Chan Mong-Gut, a famous Chinese lawyer and merciless trickster back in 1899. When Chan Mong-Gut not busy doing lawyer-type things, he spends his time annoying the locals, fooling his daffy student Foon (Eric Kot), and embarrassing pretty women like Lotus (Chingmy Yau). 

However, Chan and Foon have a falling out when Foon takes off to the newly-ceded Hong Kong to impress Lotus. Unfortunately, he ends up getting framed for murder by Bowie Lam and Moses Chan Ho, who are out to snag an inheritance from their father (Chung King-Fai). Chan decides to leave China and defend Foon - in a British court. Aiding him is Karen Mok in a “flower-vase” role as Chan’s estranged wife, who was supposed to have studied law overseas, but actually studied fashion design. This puts Chan in a tough spot, especially when Foon appears doomed by the byzantine rules of British law.

Director Joe Ma starts the film slowly, but it gains steam towards the middle before finishing decently. Sadly, nearly everyone in this film is a weak link except Stephen Chow. Eric Kot, while managing to be somewhat likable, manages to dispel all hope that he’ll eventually be Chow’s replacement. There’s no way that he can hold a candle to Chow, who manages to hold this film together with a typical charismatic performance. The film sags noticeably whenever he isn’t onscreen. Karen Mok does her usual fine job, but she has way too little to work with. Chingmy Yau is wasted in her flower-vase turn. The usual group of Chow bit players turn in fun performances. While uneven and substandard for a Chow comedy, there’s still plenty to laugh at. (Kozo 1997)

 
Availability: DVD (Hong Kong)
Region 0 NTSC
Mei Ah Entertainment
16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1
Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1
Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.

   
 
 
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