Ching ham baak lok moon (2000) Online

A movie about a cop that is investigating a murder of a prostitute, while at the same time, he discovers that his wife is having an affair. The two plot lines moves along a parallel path, sometimes inter-twining, and both leads to a devastating ending.

Simon Loui gives a good performance as the sullen cop with too many things on his mind. The movie tries to constantly throw us off course in our guess at who is the murderer, but I can't say it is completely successful. His relationship with his wife develops a little more and that leads to a more meaningful outcome.

Overall, a decent movie. Not the usual shoot them up from Hong Kong.

Simon Loui's performance as the brooding work-obsessed detective, Pang, who routinely sleep deprives both himself and his team to get the job done is the best thing the movie has to offer. The soundtrack may turn off viewers not familiar/fans of the similar-to-american-80's HK style, as it can be jarring as a first time experience (think the soundtrack Ladyhawke, starring Rutger Hauer, Pfeiffer, and Broderick, but not quite so bad).

The common and real theme of corruption in the Chinese police is present in the plot, but in an understanding way, like the characters grew up knowing that's the way things are. The viewer can easily follow Pang and his intense focus on the case. I found the plot a little hard to unravel before the culmination, but this may be an issue of Chinese names and having to read English subtitles. I believe the clues are there for you cinema sleuths out there. In any event, if the viewer can get past the soundtrack, the movie is very riveting and entertaining. As a low budget HK movie, this one is very good, but lacks the polish of any large production. After the culmination, the movie feels a little lacking, but the ride to that point was enjoyable. Perhaps this feeling derives from the budget, but it's hard to place. The film, colors, and settings aren't bad and do not stand out as low-budget.

Rating 6-6.5 against all films and a 7-8 compared to its low budget brethren.

I rated it a 7 on IMDb.

Worth seeing. Oh, and if you like the ending, please post in the forums and tell me why.