Crazy N' the City (Sun gaing hup nui) (2005)

[center][size=4]Crazy N' The City (2005)
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[/size] [left]Despite the horridly infantile english title, Crazy N' The City proves to be an affecting and honestly told film. It's a cop film, not in the sense of Infernal Affairs-intrigue ridden cop film, but one thats more mundane.

Eason Chan plays a jaded, disinterested cop, no longer as passionate about his profession as he used to be, until he is assigned to naive and idealistic rookie Joey Yung. Obviously, their different personalities and outlook- young, idealistic cop partners old, grizzled and jaded cop is something we've seen countless times. It may be treading familiar ground, but thanks to Eason's believable performance as a slacker cop, and Joey Yung's unpolished, but still decent performance, the partnership comes across as being natural.

Added into this equation is Francis Ng in a subplot as a mentally disturbed man who falls in love with his neighbour Meng Zhang. Plus, throw in a serial killer and you have the makings of the average cop drama.

But, thankfully, because of a solid script, and generally good ensemble cast- Eason Chan and Francis Ng in particular stand out, the movie is solid entertainment, and paces itself well. Sometimes, in lieu of flashy action sequences, what is appreciated is the ability to tell a good, convincing and above all enjoyable tale, and this film manages to succeed on all counts. The background location of Wanchai also add a sense of hongkongness to the film. And my classification of Eason Chan as a wannabe (see last post)? Well, if he continues making solid performances in films such as Battlefield Love and this, i may well have to mince my words in future.

Not that it is without flaws. Towards the ending, the director goes all melodrama and the film starts to become increasingly cloying. This blatantly manipulative move might please a less discerning mainstream crowd, but i was a tad disappointed by such an overtly commercial ending. Stil, ultimately, Crazy N' The City proves to be solid commercial fare and is of higher quality than the average film that you might pick.
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