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Cast:
Angelica
Lee
Anthony
Wong
Edison
Chen
Tony
Leung Kar Fei
Eric
Kot
Lam
Ka Tung
Sophie
Wong
Producer:
Gordon
Chan
Fruit
Chan
Law
Gwok Keung
Director:
Gordon
Chan
Chung
Kai Cheong
Score:
 
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A-1
AKA:
A1
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Heavily
advertised and benefiting from a striking cover design, 'A-1'
hit Hong Kong cinemas during the summer and looked to claw
back some revenue from the Hollywood juggernauts that had
dominated the period. Sadly, despite a strong cast that
included Anthony Wong and superstar-actress-in-the-making
Angelica Lee, the film made little impact at the box-office.
Sometimes it seems that local audiences would prefer to spend
their money on CGI-infested blockbusters than Hong Kong films,
but 'A-1' doesn't do itself any favours either.
Fashion
reporter Elaine (Lee) is devastated to learn that her
ex-boyfriend and fellow report Peter has been killed in a car
crash. On returning home after this traumatic news, she is
also confronted with a pair of debt-collectors (Wong and Kot)
who are keen to recoup the boss' money from her. Although she
fights them off and the police arrive, Elaine agrees not to
press charges and the debt collectors apologise for the
pressure in light of her bad news. One of the two, Fei (Wong),
is an ex-policeman and, on reading the story of Peter's death
in the newspaper, implies that it might not have been an
accident. This remark sparks interest from Elaine who begins
to investigate the tragedy and discovers that a cover-up is in
place. Sympathetic Fei uses his police training to help Elaine
piece together the story behind Peter's demise and, along with
Fei's colleague (Kot) and a newspaper photographer (Chen),
uncovers a plot tracing back to the son of a powerful business
magnate whose involvement has been ignored by the authorities.
Eventually though, those involved in the cover-up turn their
attention to Elaine et al and try to continue the deception.
Although
many of my reviews are peppered with criticisms of Hollywood,
I would be the first to admit that there are certain genres
that they excel in. The conspiracy thriller is one such
example with films like 'The Conversation', 'The Parallax
View' and even 'Enemy Of The State' expertly balancing
paranoia with genuine suspense. Such films gradually increase
their air of unease, trapping an everyday person in a world
that is far more treacherous than they could imagine. The
unfortunate thing is that 'A-1' just cannot conjure up
anywhere near the same impact despite an initially intriguing
premise.
'A-1'
starts in a similar way to so many of the great conspiracy
thrillers: the 'heroes' are shown in their mundane
environments while external factors begin to envelop them. It
is at this moment, though, that 'A-1' makes the cardinal
mistake that proves impossible to reverse - it lets all of the
tension ebb away with little consequence. Instead of the
choking grip of paranoia and the threat of shadowy enemies,
this thriller staggers along without any properly defined
sense of urgency. Apart from one near-death situation and
rumours of threats, there is nothing to stir up the vital
atmosphere of fear. Such a significant deficiency turns this
drama into a toothless tiger.
The
unfortunate thing is that everything is in place for a film
that should have been a welcome break from the norm. The
narrative is not devoid of potential, but its handling
effectively dilutes it. Meanwhile the talented cast are mostly
left in the doldrums with half-written characters; Anthony
Wong's troubled past is a cliché too many while Angelica Lee's
materialism and bizarre aping of U.S. hip-hop fashion is
hardly likely to whip up sympathy for her character. Tony
Leung Kar Fei is so twitchy and nervy as the newspaper editor
that he immediately becomes the most suspicious person in the
film. All three of these are fine performers and, despite said
weaknesses in the writing, do the best they can with the
material.
Although
it's sad to see thrillers like this perform poorly at the
box-office, it's far more disappointing to report that, despite
the slick production values, 'A-1' cannot sustain any intrigue
beyond its first ten minutes. There are moments of
entertainment here, but the flat denouement sums up the lack of
real polish that the preceding 100 minutes had provided.
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