R E V I E W :    The Odd One Dies  

Reviewed 11/26/00 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Mei Ah / 1997 / 89 minutes
Directed by Patrick Lau

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Having no idea what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised by The Odd One Dies. The jazzy music at the beginning sucked me in - cheesy yet endearing, electric piano and walking bass seem to set the table for a dark film noir mood. Then the film flies in the face of convention and tosses traditional narrative out the window. Although the film is placed squarely in the crime genre, the sly humor juxtaposed with sudden outbursts of violence laced with an attempt at an unconventional romance mark this film as somewhat ambitious and quite unpredictable.

The film does not completely succeed. The main characters (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Carman Lee) do not quite jell as a romantic duo, and Kaneshiro is not able to bring any color to his rather dour role. Nevertheless, Raymond Wong's score and Patrick Lau's direction keep the pace lively and overall this is quite an enjoyable experience.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

The disk looks very good and the colors are crisp, although there are occasional blotches and other imperfections in the picture.

The sound is good, but there is little to test the limits of a surround sound system.

In addition to Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks, traditional Chinese and English subtitles are provided. The English subtitles are good, although the font used is quite thin and very occasionally lost in the daytime exterior scenes.

No other features are available, so this is as bare bones as it gets.

Buy, rent, or pass?

A refreshing attempt to mix genres that works most of the time, The Odd One Dies is well worth a rental.

 

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