Movie Review: Nightfall/大追捕

When Nightfall played in the cinemas, I avoided it. This movie was made by the same… people… who made Murderer, one of the most ridiculous films I’ve ever seen.

And I own Kung Fu Mahjong 3.

But people had been asking me to review it, and I found it on DVD cheap.

As well it should be.

108 minutes of rarely relieved tedium, Nightfall/大追捕 ends up being an endurance test much more than a viewing experience.

Nick Cheung plays a paroled murderer who spent 20 years in prison for the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

Michael Wong plays her father, an alcoholic opera singer with some serious issues.

Janice Man plays Michael’s daughter.

And Nick Cheung’s dead girlfriend.

Because two people can look exactly alike 20 years later.

Especially if they live in the same house.

It’s the water. Happens all the time.

Candace Yu plays Janice’s (the Janiceses?) mother.

Michael Wong turns up dead.

Which is a shame because he’s the most entertaining motherf@#$er in the movie.

Simon Yam plays a grizzled cop who wants to find the murderer.

Cherry Ngan plays his alienated daughter.

No one plays his wife, because she’s dead.  No one killed her, she’s just a plot device to set up the single-father-cop thing.

You know, like Simon Yam played in Black Ransom.

Kay Tse plays a cop on Simon’s team.

And she also wants to come off the bench, so to speak.

Because women love old, unmarried men with baggage.

No, really, it’s true.

Take me, for example.

I get more ass than a toilet seat in a Sichuan restaurant on Buffet Night.

Or not.

I’m not going to go into the plot of this movie, because the movie does that more than enough.

It’s excruciatingly ponderous, plodding along from one point to the next, each of which is discussed before it happens, then shown happening, and then discussed after it happens.

Sometimes they discuss the discussion.

This movie couldn’t even confuse George W. Bush.

And he’s a f@#$ing moron.

But so am I for watching this pile of sh*t.

Actually, there were a few things I liked about the movie, or at least the people in it.

Nick Cheung does a really good job with a very tough role.

What I mean is, it’s tough to carry this role in the middle of such a sh*t movie.

But he does, and he deserves credit for it.

There was also a very discreet shot of Janice man showering.

Just on principle, I enjoyed it.

But far and away the best thing about this movie is watching and listening to Michael Wong lose it.

He’s so far out of his depth that I almost felt bad for him.

But he was so entertainingly bad that I didn’t.

And speaking of Janice Man showering, I wanted to bathe after I saw and heard Michael Wong ask Janice’s character… about her period.

I felt dirty. And wrong.

And not in a good way.

But not as ashamed as I felt for having sat through this mess.