Reviewed 2/19/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Mei Ah / 1999 / 89 minutes
Directed by Johnnie To

Background 

Milkway Image Productions, a company formed by Johnnie To and associates, evidently decided to widen the commercial appeal of their films a bit during 1999. This was the last film made under the Milkway banner before it joined forces with the larger China Star company; it was also the most successful at the box office up to that point.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Much of the first third of Running Out of Time is ripped off so directly from 1998's The Negotiator (situations, lines of dialogue, apparent motivations) that I nearly lost interest entirely. But then the plots diverge as the differing character motivations become clear, and soon Running Out of Time is well on its own rollicking mock-serious way.

What held my interest during the first 30 minutes or so were two things: first, the slightly off-kilter camerawork and editing; second, the magnetic presence of Lau Ching Wan. The editing, especially, could be criticized in some corners for approximating a nature documentary (patches of sped-up action), yet, as a signal that things are not as they appear, it proves quite effective. Lau Ching Wan does seem to do very much: there is no breast-beating bravado or dramatic scenery-chewing. He just is the world-weary single cop, lonely beyond belief, desperately trying to make sense of his life.

As the film progresses, the pace picks up, the characters (including star Andy Lau as a doomed criminal and Waise Lee as Lau Ching Wan's beleaguered superior) fully engage, and the pieces of the plot fall into place, nearly without effort.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

For a film released last year, the image doesn't jump off the screen at you. The print is clean enough, but the blacks are not truly deep, nor are the colors especially vivid. Hard to believe this was the filmmakers' intention.

The sound is fine, nothing extraordinary. Widescreen, Cantonese/Mandarin DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 audio tracks, multilingual subtitles (traditional & simplified Chinese, English, and Thai).

Also has "data bank" (just a brief synopsis and listing of main cast & crew), trailer, and "best buy" (trailer for Sealed With a Kiss).

Buy, rent, or pass?

It is a tribute to the filmmakers that you can ignore the shortcomings of the disk and get caught up completely in the experience. A hearty recommendation to buy.