Overheard

I give the movie: 3.0/5 If you've read my review on the movie Revolutionary Road, you would've known that I kinda dislike depressing movies. Well,Overheard definitely isn't as tragic as that 1960s American drama, but this Hong Kong thriller does prove to be a tad heavy to deal with. But that's not to say it is a bad movie. Written and produced by the people who brought you the excellent Infernal Affairs (disregarding part 2 and 3), this film tells the story of a team of undercover cops spying on a public-listed company whom the police suspect of dealing illegally in the stock market. As with all things involving large sums of money, greed and/or personal gain comes into the picture, and that's where the film begins its downward spiral into this dark tale of morality. Apparent flaws are the slow pacing at the start of the movie, and the almost cruel way of treating our movie leads in the story. However, what's to be praised is the 3 charismatic dudes,...

This is the third film outing from Alan Mak and Felix Chong without Andrew Lau’s involvement. Moonlight in Tokyo was my guilty pleasure (I’m inclined to not suppose to enjoy it) with traces of Lau’s tightness in scripting evidently missing. Lady Cop and Papa Crook gave them good stretching for further writing and directing credibility but somewhat, something felt missing, especially in overall justification. Overheard feels like long-awaited return of the Lau, Mak and Chong trio, except that Lau is not there – which could be good news depending on which side you’re on. Safe to say, a viewing of Overheard leaves me walking out of the cinema with some quite wholesome feeling. This is also their first movie without Chapman To. Lau Ching Wan makes an almost annual appearance in Hong Kong films, this time however a non-grand one. His character oozes the predictable righteousness as the team lead but the intensity is pleasantly lacking. The man whose eyes...