Movie Review: Protégé/門徒

Written and directed by Derek Yee, Protégé/門徒 tells the story of an undercover police officer who has spent 7 years working for a drug dealer.

Daniel Wu plays Nick, an undercover who has never done any regular police work. Nick lives in a nondescrīpt flat in Sham Shui Po, next door to a single mother named Fan, played by Zhang Jingchu.

She tries to take care of her daughter, but spends much more time and energy taking care of her heroin habit. She’s also trying to avoid her ex-husband, a buck-toothed junkie played by Louis Koo.

Who looks altogether too tanned and healthy to be a convincing dope fiend.

And it doesn’t help that he’s wearing a set of false teeth that are more obviously fake than a lot of the chins, eyes, and hair color being sported by the entertainers we see almost every day.

But hey, at least Louis Koo could take his embarrassing parts off after the movie.

Good grief, where was I?

Through hard work and assistance from the police, Nick has gained the trust of Kwan, played by Andy Lau.

Nick is being groomed to take over for Kwan, who has diabetes. A career criminal, Kwan is thorough, low-key, and consumed by paranoia.

But that’s the only way to be a drug dealer more than a few months.

I really liked his performance in this movie because he was so different. It’s really nice to see Andy Lau playing a non-glamorous role. He’s darker than usual, and I don’t mean the character.

That may sound kind of strange, but if you see the movie you’ll know what I mean.

Kwan dresses well but not luxuriously, and even speaks like a regular person. It’s a very different role for Andy Lau, and he plays it really well.

He’s playing his age, and it’s not only surprising, it’s also really interesting, because it allows him to be much more natural in his character.

Supposedly, he originally wanted to play the Daniel Wu role, but Derek Yee thankfully said no.

Kwan has two daughters, and his wife is pregnant.

It was great to see Anita Yuen on the big screen again. These days we’re lucky to see her even in a Chinese New Year movie.

If you watch TVB you’ll probably get to see her, but I don’t watch TV.

Because this movie is about drugs and the people who buy and sell them, it walks a thin line between entertainment and preaching, and sometimes it stumbles.

I don’t really blame movies, especially local movies, for either not knowing about or taking liberties with the realities of narcotics. I also don’t mind that local movies usually take a pretty draconian anti-drug stance.

I do, however, wish that they were a little more subtle and/or realistic about it.

Daniel Wu does well in his role, but I had a hard time believing that the people around him would believe him.

He’s too… nice. Too well-spoken.

Heroin people aren’t like that.

But we should all cut him some slack.

Because trust me, in the middle of unprotected sex is the absolute worst time to find out that the woman you’re with has track marks from using needles.

From what I’ve read…

But those are minor things.

I really liked  Protégé/門徒, both in the cinema and on DVD.

The scene featuring Liu Kai Chi as an overzealous Customs officer still made me squirm as much as it did the first time.

It’s one of those things that stays with you.

The film also features location shoots in Thailand, and the scenery is nice.

A lot nicer than Sham Shui Po.

One of my favorite parts of this movie is a monologue by Andy Lau that captures the thinking of so many people about drugs and the people who use them.

It makes me laugh, but then I’m an awful person.