R E V I E W :   Comeuppance

Reviewed 2/26/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

    

Background 

Mei Ah / 2000 / 102 minutes
Directed by Derick Chiu
Written by Benny Li, Zevia Tong, Derick Chiu

Mention Milkway Image to a Hong Kong film fan, and as likely as not, titles of gritty crime films such as The Mission, A Hero Never Dies, and Expect the Unexpected pop up immediately. Yet the production company has also made films such as the romantic Sealed With a Kiss and Needing You, as well as the excellent youth drama Spacked Out. Comeuppance bears the Milkyway logo, as well as producer Johnnie To, but it charts its own course.

Derick Chiu made Final Justice for Milkway in 1997 and the romance Sealed With a Kiss in 1999. He began his directorial career in 1993 with Pink Bomb.

The film was released in late 2000.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: Three men are found dead, killed by cyanide poisoning, in the VIP room of a bar. One of the men is a triad member. A police investigator, Michael, begins probing the case, which may involve a rival gang. A reporter, Hak, takes on the job of writing a fictional serial for his newspaper, based on the crime. Soon enough, the killer is revealed to be a former film-processing lab worker named Sung. Gangsters continue to be knocked off by Sung using various poisoning methods as the three main characters are inexplicably drawn closer together.

Performances: Sunny Chan plays Michael as a calm and experienced detective, not terribly distressed by the killings since the victims are all bad guys, possibly receiving their "comeuppance" as his girlfriend suggests at one point. As the just-trying-to-get-by reporter Hak, Jordan Chan is disheveled and opportunistic. He becomes rattled and nervous when the real killer apparently begins drawing inspiration from Hak's fictional killer's murderous exploits. Patrick Tam roughly parallels Sunny Chan in his calm and deliberate nature.

Production: The pace of the film reflects the personalities of its three main characters. For the most part it is unhurried and sometimes a bit slow. On the other hand, the pace allows the story to breathe and the audience to follow the sometimes-tricky plot twists. Director Derick Chiu keeps the camera moving constantly and uses camera angles that are sometimes too clever for their own good (by being so off-the-wall that they distract). Yet it is his inventiveness that keeps interest alive in the drama being played out, and each of his stylized moves seems to be used for a reason. Cinematographer Tony Cheung employs a natural-light approach to emphasize the near-documentary feel. The musical score (by Chan Sau Pok, Gordon O'Yang, and Leung Yiu Pak) enlivens without drawing attention to itself. A fine editing job is credited to T. L. Yun.

Rating: Category IIA for a number of dead bodies, one shoot-out (no explicit bloodshed), and one very brief and discreet sex scene.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The letterboxed presentation (1.85 to 1) looks fairly good for a Mei Ah production. The company's trademark washed-out look is still evident but is not overly distracting, probably because of the documentary-like photography. As a result, black levels and color vibrancy are adequate at best. Imperfections such as grain and the occasional blemish were also evident on the source print.

Sound: I listed to the Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese audio track and it sounded fine. Since this is not an all-out action feast, the sound field was sufficient in its use of the surrounds. Other audio tracks provided are Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin, as well as Dolby Digital 2.0 Cantonese and Mandarin.

Subtitles: The English subtitles are white with a thin black backing; despite this, two or three times they were difficult to read because they tended to disappear into the background (the black backing was too thin). One disappointment was the lack of subtitles when certain newspaper headlines and articles appeared on screen. Other subtitles provided are traditional and simplified Chinese.

Features: Nine chapters are listed with a still picture in the chapter menu. No time coding is provided. A brief synopsis and cast and crew listing are provided in the "Databank." No other features are provided.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Not a movie that keeps you glued to the edge of your seat, but nonetheless a quiet intelligence on the part of the filmmakers is evident throughout this intriguing police drama. The script is very well written, with enough twists and turns to keep things moving, and the direction is excellent.

 

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