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Cast:
Kenny
Bee
Chow
Yun Fat
Joey
Wong
Anita
Mui
Wong
Jing
Producer:
Wong
Jing
Director:
Kenny
Bee
Score:
 
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100
WAYS TO MURDER YOUR WIFE
AKA:
One Hundred Ways To Murder Your Wife
Year:
1986 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Two
well-respected footballers meet one night in a Hong Kong bar.
Kenny (Bee) is a highly rated striker for a popular team while
'Football Fa' (Chow) is a star goalkeeper. Over a few drinks,
the pair share compliments and, as the evening draws on, their
problems. As things turn out, both of these cowardly men have
the same major problem: their wives. Kenny's wife (Mui)
constantly nags him and designs outrageous outfits that she
insists he wears. Meanwhile Football Fa is insanely jealous
about his beautiful wife (Wong) and her popularity with his
team-mates. Falling into a drunken stupor, both men foolishly
agree to get rid of each other's wives. Football Fa seems to
have succeeded when he goes to Kenny's house and wakes up
thinking he has done the deed. In actual fact, Kenny's wife
has left thinking that her husband is with another woman.
These two misunderstandings remain hidden though and Football
Fa, recovering from the distressing thought of being a
murderer, insists that Kenny returns the 'favour'. What
follows is an elaborate series of ideas to achieve this
dubious goal and get away with it free from blame.
What
may sound like an unpleasant crime thriller because of the
concept and title is actually another of the comedy films that
Chow Yun Fat made earlier in his career. Effectively a farce
version of Hitchcock's 'Strangers On A Train', '100 Ways To
Murder Your Wife' is very light-hearted and, unbelievably,
gentle in nature. Although the concept still sounds quite
harsh, there's no doubt that the two main male characters are
totally devoid of brains and therefore offer very little
threat. As a good-natured caper, this is an enjoyable movie
with four performers who nearly always entertain. As a comedy
though, '100 Ways To Murder Your Wife' is simply not as
hilarious as it should have been. The usual farce elements are
thrown i.e. misunderstandings and frantic behaviour, but
there's little about them that's genuinely amusing. Therefore
this never has the hold on the viewer that it could have
achieved and instead offers just a few moments of genuine
quality. Nonetheless, director Kenny Bee creates an atmosphere
that makes the film watchable despite its faults. This is a
plus point that was shared by many of those lovable 80s Hong
Kong comedies that are sorely missed. Good, but not great.
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