An unusual early HK-PRC crime drama directed by Ann Hui. The film opens with Yang Rui [Liu Yunlong] who is engaged to his boss but still has an eye for attractive women. He spots cleaner He Yanhong [Zhao Wei] at his Taekwando class and pesters her.
When he follows her back to her (much too large) apartment, she knocks him out. But then, feeling sorry for him, she takes him in and feeds him. This leads to a relaitionship.
Yang’s fiance sensibly has him followed, confronts him about the affair and sacks him, revealing also that He has a son, Xiong. Recovering from the trauma of being the deceived rather than deceiver, Yang forgives He and they move in together (although we are told that the relationship is asexual).
He reveals that she is also known as An Xin which Yang takes with a surprising lack of concern. Then Yang is arrested for corruption associated with his previous job. Gradually he discovers that An Xin is a former policewomen from Yunnan who worked with the drug enforcement agency. And we flashback to the main story with the POV switching from Yang to An.
The police are engaged in a violent struggle with drug smugglers and An’s then fiance, Zhang Tiejun [Chen Jianbin], wants her to move to safer posting. But then she bumps into bad boy Mao Jie [Nicholas Tse] and a complicated relationship develops not least because we (and An) discover that Mao is a gangster and she is pregnant.
It all sounds better on paper than it is on screen. The structure is over complicated, the action sequences are less than convincing and the sexual attraction between the various characters is negated by the censor and the lack of chemistry between the leads. It’s not helped by the fact that Tse is several years younger than Zhao and looks like her younger brother. The two never look believable together. Chen in contrast is six years older than her and looks like her dad. And while Vicki Zhao is a good actress she never looks convincing in this action role.
Based on a novel by Hai Yan.
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