Treasure Inn

Wong Jing

If Hong Kong’s Wong Jing had a middle name, it would be Prolific. He has directed 98 films, produced 138 and has scriptwriter credit for 149.

His output is highly erratic, encompassing everything from the action comedy of the classic God Of Gamblers (1989) to sexploitation flicks such as Raped By An Angel 4: The Raper’s Union (1999).

Happily, Treasure Inn is in the vein of the former. The MacGuffin here is a stolen white jade Guanyin statue but the point is really to watch the actors making fools of themselves.

Nick Cheung and Nicholas Tse, who were both in the taut thriller The Stool Pigeon (2010), ditch their grim and intense personas and put on their silly hats. Cheung is a hoot to watch as a lowly buck-toothed constable who has an inflated view of his looks. Tse, though, perhaps distracted by marital problems with wife Cecilia Cheung, seems rather subdued here.

Throw in Huang Yi and Charlene Choi as their respective love interests, a gathering of crooks and thieves at a desert inn auction and nonsensical gags and it all adds up to an enjoyably rambunctious ride.

(ST)