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A True Mob Story

2000

Director: Wong Jing

Stars: Andy Lau, Gigi Leung, Alex Fong, Sam Lee

This is your pretty standard story about a cowardly low-level Triad (Lau) who rises to the top of the ranks after he accidentally kills a rival boss. Of course, this makes all the other gangs pissed at him and they attack at every turn, which creates problems with his girlfriend (Leung) and son. The script is actually well-developed compared to most of Wong Jing's recent movies -- it has its' share of cliches, but it doesn't depend on toilet jokes and the story actually has an arc to it. More suprisingly, Andy Lau actually leaves his shirt on for most of the movie (except to display his cool-looking Triad tattoos, of course), doesn't sing any syrupy ballads, and puts in a good performance. A True Mob Story sure isn't anything revolutionary; most any Hong Kong film fan has seen this type of movie many times before. But it is done well and worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

RATING: 7

A review of the DVD for this movie can be found here

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