Once A Gangster
Felix Chong

There is no question that the overwrought Hong Kong gangster flick is ripe for a send-up.
But Felix Chong, who last helmed the slickly executed Overheard (2009) and was also the scribe for the Infernal Affairs trilogy, is not the right man for the job. He cannot quite decide if he wants to gently skewer Infernal Affairs or have an over-the-top parody. So what the audience gets is a jumbled mess.
Still, there are some moments to be savoured.Ekin Cheng (as Sparrow) and Jordan Chan (as Roast Pork) are two gang members set up to be rivals but the irony is that neither of them wants the post of top honcho. Sparrow wants to enrol in university and study economics after his release from jail while Roast Pork just wants to run his chain of restaurants.
The in-joke is that the two actors had starred in the Young And Dangerous series of hit gangster flicks and the title is actually name-checked here.
Despite the sly casting of the leads, it is the supporting performances that make a bigger impression. Wilfred Lau is a hoot as Yan, the world’s most incompetent undercover cop, who survives only because his triad boss is even more clueless.
And Candice Yu On On, one-time Mrs Chow Yun Fat, chomps the scenery whenever she appears as the drug-addled harridan who is Sparrow’s power-hungry mother.
(ST)