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Cast:
Michael
Hui
Samuel
Hui
Roy
Chiao
Eileen
Humphreys
Producer:
Raymond
Chow
Louis
Sit
Madalena
Chan
Director:
Michael
Hui
Score:
 
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THE
LAST MESSAGE
AKA:
Crazy Money ||
Mr. Boo 5: The Last Message
Year:
1975 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
After
the gigantic success of 'Games
Gamblers Play' and before the film he would forever be
associated with, 'The
Private Eyes', Michael Hui gave local audiences 'The Last
Message'. The result was a cinematic outing that was far from
his most memorable.
Ah
Tim (Michael) is the sly worker of a mental institution who
has little interest in his work. Within the same institute is
Li (Samuel), one of the head male nurses there who shares Ah
Tim's apathy toward the job. A chance to change the status quo
is presented when a new patient, Cheng (Chiao), is admitted to
the hospital and catches the pair's attention with his endless
talk of treasure. At first they put this in the same bracket
as the newcomer's babblings about a princess, but they soon
begin to believe that he really does hold the key to a small
fortune. Ah Tim succeeds in finding a portion of the patient's
treasure and learns of even greater wealth at a secret
location. However, when Cheng suddenly dies, the two fortune
hunters are left with a fractured trail to follow in their bid
to reach the real booty.
Within
a very illustrious crowd of the Hui brothers other comedies,
'The Last Message' fails to stand out and succeed in giving
the audience a taste of their very best efforts. Mainly
featuring Michael and Samuel - though Ricky does get a very
amusing cameo that proves to be one of the film's highlights -
this is, in some ways, more plot-driven than the classic Hui
films. Usually this could be seen as a good thing, but here
the brothers are slightly restricted by the material and even
though the plot has potential, it is not used to great effect.
With these things in mind, 'The Last Message' doesn't compare
well with the best Hui comedies such as 'The Private Eyes', 'Security
Unlimited' and 'The
Contract'. It lacks the spark of genius that infused most
of Michael's best work and the characters are slightly less
likeable than usual, which does the film no favours.
Importantly, even a lesser Michael Hui film is worth watching
and there are still enough comic moments to keep most viewers
happy. Michael and Samuel's exceptional chemistry is once
again highly entertaining, though a longer appearance by Ricky
would have been welcome. Not vintage Hong Kong comedy then,
but there are far worse films to spend 100 minutes watching.
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