The plot is a fairly simple one -- a trio of thieves' friendship is put to the test after one of them is hurt badly during a job. Of course, this being a John Woo movie, there's a bit more to it than that. Chow and Cherie Chung are a couple, but Leslie Cheung also likes Cherie, and so moves in on her after the botched job. There's maybe a bit too much time devoted to scenes dealing with this stuff, but overall this is a pretty good movie.

It's more light-hearted than a lot of Woo's modern works, so if you're expecting The Killer or Hard-Boiled, you might be disappointed. But it does move along at a pretty good clip, and the chemistry between Chow and Cheung (which was touched on in A Better Tomorrow 2) is great -- plus the final shootout (which has Chow doing his best Bruce Lee imitation, complete with backflips) is exciting. It might be too comedic or over-the-top for many people (in many ways, this feels more like a Wong Jing movie than a John Woo production), but Once a Thief is definitely worth a look for action/comedy fans.