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Cast:
Natalis
Chan
Din
Laap Man
Michelle
Reis
Wu
Fung
Leung
Yeung Jing
Sunny
Fang
Action:
Yuen
Cheung Yan
Yuen
Shun Yi
Mandy
Chan
Director:
Yuen
Cheung Yan
Score:
  
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COUP
DE GRACE
AKA:
The Diamond Debacle
Year:
1990 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
I
don't quite know what inspired me to buy this film; the
casting and front cover are hardly inspirational stuff.
Nevertheless, 'Coup De Grace' is a pleasant surprise from
those heady days of 80s Hong Kong, combining genuinely amusing
comedy with the kind of action that uses every prop you could
imagine.
Fred
(Chan) is the hapless employee of a Hong Kong diamond company
who is saving up for his future wedding to the beautiful Tina
(Reis). To this end, Fred has carefully kept a few diamonds he
has acquired to sell on and fund his big day. Unfortunately he
is robbed of his stash and now has to confront his fiancée
with the news - knowing full well that her father will only
let Fred marry her if he has money. With his dreams in
tatters, Fred decides to enlist the help of his sneaky best
friend Seng to orchestrate a plan to 'acquire' some diamonds
from the company he works for. Hatching an ingenious scheme,
Fred and Seng use the robbery of the jewellery store as a
means to get away with HK$100,000 of diamonds. However, the
leader of the gang of robbers realises that the 'job' was
missing a handful of diamonds and, from there, he discovers
that Fred and Seng have them. The pair now find themselves on
the run from that gang, the police and Tina's father who is
keen to find out where Fred's recent windfall has come from.
To
most people, Natalis Chan is like Marmite or American
Football: an acquired taste that you either love or loathe.
Though most people would put themselves in the latter camp
when considering Chan, I find myself pleasingly indifferent to
him. He can certainly annoy, but films like 'Coup De Grace'
show that he can also lend a certain dopey charm to a
production. Whether trying to court Michelle Reis or
attempting to evade the superkicking henchwoman, Chan is in
his element and creates a flawed hero the viewer can actually
care about. Supporting Chan is Din Laap Man who gives a solid
performance even though he is hindered by a particularly
offensive haircut. The not-so-dynamic duo are genuinely
appealing and pull off the comic scenes with notable kudos.
Yuen
Cheung Yan may not be as experienced a director as his
brother, but he certainly knows how to work around the
weaknesses in his production. Clearly lacking a capable screen
fighter, Yuen tailors the action around the stars and weaves
in the highly inventive use of the surroundings. Such an
achievement is not to be underestimated; instead of trying to
make the leads look like fighters (as he tried to do in
'Charlie's Angels') he choreographs the action in a
intentionally raw, yet entertaining way. Make no mistake,
'Coup De Grace' is not an award winner or even a genre
masterpiece, but its modest goals are easily achieved. Despite
the uninspiring opening twenty minutes, this is an
action-comedy that is worth sticking with.
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