Prior to his self-claimed rebirth as a legitimate businessman, producer Charles Heung was a feared Triad member. This film, according to pre-production reports, was to be Heung's attempt to shed a little light on those early years. Taking these claims on face value, Heung represents himself (via director Wong Jing and poster-boy popstar Andy Lau) as a loving father who stumbled into the company of ruthless criminals who were constantly taking advantage of him. You see, poor Charles never really had a stomach for the job. Instead, the character rumored to be a representation of Charles' infamous thug brother Jimmy, helps Charles save face by secretly stepping in to do all of Charles' dirty work for him. Eventually, however, Charles manages to step up to the plate by virtue of his brains, rather than his brawn. No, I don't believe a word of it either! And interestingly, neither does Charles Heung. Or at least he ain't admitting it. He has publicly denied any resemblance between this film and his life, stating that he loves his brother dearly, and would never portray him in a way that some might find unflattering. Uh huh. Ironically, if this is not a "true mob story", then there's little reason to watch it, as it simply does not stand up very well on it's own. On the other hand, if it IS meant to be Heung's true story, it's fascinating, even if only as a record of what Charles would have us believe about him, because damn it... he's handing out a sugar-coated pill that pretty darned hard to swallow.

Paul Kazee