This early Stephen Chow flick is a cheap, fun affair that
provides a glimpse at Chow’s as-yet-refined talent. He’s
Chow Siu-Lung, named for Bruce Lee Siu-Lung, who was a colleague
of his father (Yuen Wah). Chow spends his days practicing
kung-fu with his childhood friend (Teresa Mo) and playing
snooker at the local pool table.
Chow visits Hong Kong with
his cousin Yan (Leung Ka-Yan), and while Chow merely plays
pool for fun, Yan places bets on the side. Somehow they end
up betting Chow’s ancestral land, after which everything falls
apart. Chow must regain the land, and he can only do that
through a pool match against Jimmy White, a gweilo pool shark.
The humor in this film is a tad sophomoric,
but it's still incredibly funny and engaging. This film was
made back when Chow was stuck in his “wacky mainlander” stage.
It’s interesting to see how his work has matured with time.
If you compared this film with God of Cookery, you’d
see a world of difference. Good throwaway fun. (Kozo
1997) |
