Reviewed by: JohnR Date: 09/02/2007 Summary: Good Silly A parody of triad flicks that approaches the topic from the silly side. Tony Leung and Jacky Cheung star as Fred and Keith, two small-time triads who met and teamed up as children. They've entered the triad world in the way a Pacific Islander might be said to enter the world of fishing and eating coconuts; it surrounds them and is all they know. But they're not qualified for it, as they are both lazy and cowardly to the bone. They go from one boss to the next, messing up their assignments as they go along. Each boss ends up dead, and they eventually get the reputation of being jinxes, at which point none of the bosses want to have anything to do with them. But then they are recruited by an egomaniac boss named Kwan, who wants to demonstrate his toughness by surviving the jinxes. At one point, they borrow money and act as middlemen in the purchase a prostitute from the mainland (Anita Yuen). The only problem is that Anita was told she was being recruited for a modeling job. This is a side story that doesn't really go anywhere, but is a vehicle for a few laughs. The whole thing is a vehicle for laughs. There is a plot and a climactic fight scene, but the real purpose of the goings on is to generate jokes and poke holes in the triad myths. The two leads do good jobs, especially Tony Leung, who's great. He a little like a jazz musician, improvising and jumping from one mood to another as a sax man might jump from one note to another. It's not intended to be a Golden Horse performance, but it sure is fun to watch an incredibly talented actor let loose. Anita Yuen's role is small and she doesn't have a lot of screen time; but she adds some cute to bridge over to the final fight scene. An enjoyable movie. Watch it after "Exiled" to cleanse your palette. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 09/14/2005 Summary: Not that funny--two minor spoilers. "Days of Being Dumb" tries on a number of the elements of film comedy including slapstick, farce and buddy comedy but it isn't really any of those. Nor is it a post-modern pastiche or a genre defying hybrid. It is simply a movie that throws a bunch of stuff against the wall and hopes the audience will find what sticks to the wall to be funny. There are some potentially funny bits--the triad underlings hang-out serving as a hiring hall, much like the Merchant Marine hall in "Action in the North Atlantic", as if there was a triad trade union that enforced seniority privileges is one. Another is the mistaken identify of Anita Yeun--she is a model, the guys think she is a hooker. And the overall hook of the movie, that Fred and Keith are actually in demand as triad recruits because they so bad at it, sounds hilarious. But between the good ideas that began the process and the final product on the screen most of the laughs were lost. If the audience correctly anticipates how a joke or bit will play out--if they see the punch line half-way through the build-up--it kills the humor. You know that Fred and Keith are going to drop the vase with the triad leader's ashes as soon as the scene starts and only hope that it will happen in an outrageous and unexpected way, which it does not. The same with the boat sinking when they are told to dispose of the corpse of General Lee--once the chopping starts the only thing that can happen is that they chop holes in the wooden boat. It is clear that Tony Leung Chiu Wai, one of the finest actors working in Hong Kong over the past couple of decades, and Jacky Cheung, who can effective in the right role, try hard to pull this one together. Unfortunately all the hard work in the world wouldn't make this funny or even particularly interesting. Not recommended. Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 02/09/2003 Summary: Why?? It's simply crap. It's a total waste of time. Okay if you like Stephen Chow comedies. 1/5 Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 03/07/2002 Summary: Ok-ish Another movie which i am sure i reviewed!! Anyway with all the positive stuff the other reviewers said about this movie , i bought the vcd and........well i didn't find it as funny as they did. I didn't laugh out loud anywhere but it was a interesting movie. 6/10 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 07/26/2001 Summary: Waste of time Not funny enough and too long. The only bit I enjoyed was the climactic action set-piece, which was pretty good. I sort-of appreciate the intention to parody, but it mostly didn't work for me. Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: Souxie Date: 05/04/2001 Summary: Impressively silly I loved this movie... Right from when the music starts at the beginning you know what you're in for. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Jacky Cheung go from pitiful to hilarious, the situations they ended up in had me in stitches - the prostitute who didn't know she was one, the gang bosses dying off one by one, trying to cut up the guy in the boat. Hilarious.

Reviewed by: grimes Date: 04/08/2000 Before Too Many Ways to Be No. 1, there was Days of Being Dumb. While it doesn't quite reach the brilliant parodic heights of Too Many Ways, it gets an E for effort. Like Too Many Ways, Days of Being Dumb is a parody of heroic bloodshed and triad films. It is a fairly silly film, but there is enough cleverness that it never becomes purely stupid. Towards the end, it starts to wear out its welcome, but fortunately it's all over before it becomes annoying. Despite the title's similarity to Days of Being Wild, there doesn't appear to be any real relation between the two films. Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai play Fred and Keith (unfortunately, I can't remember who is who), two 'gangsters' who have been friends since they met as young children. Unlike many a Hong Kong movie gangster, these guys are total cowards. During a gang battle, they pretend to fight each other instead of the other gang, meanwhile keeping away from the center of the action. After they join three different gangs and their boss gets killed each time, they earn a reputation as jinxes in the triad community and no one will take them on. Meanwhile, they bring model Anita Yuen to Hong Kong with some money that they manage to scrape together. They are under the impression that she is a prostitute but she has agreed to no such thing. The bulk of the movie is mostly a series of jokes. The two main plot threads involve the love triangle between the two boys and Anita Yuen and their eventual recruitment by the toughest gang leader of all (based on the theory that if he can succeed even with these two jinxes at his side then he is all the more undefeatable). The acting in the film is fairly over the top, particularly Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung. They do a good job of being silly without overdoing it to the point of becoming irritating. They're a fairly likeable pair of fools. Anita Yuen's role is fairly minimal. Most of the other characters in the film are basically straight men and women who set up comic situations for the protaganists. The movie is filled with jokes that make reference to the conventions of triad movies, so this is not for the unitiated viewer. There are also a few jokes about the Hong Kong film industry's involvement with triads which were particularly on target. No one would argue that this is a work of genius, but it is very funny and I laughed more or less through the whole film.

Reviewed by: jfierro Date: 12/21/1999 I thought it was pretty funny. Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai are two morons cursed with bad luck. Little Tony really shines in an over-the-top comic performance.

Reviewed by: MadMonkey Date: 12/09/1999 Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai in a somewhat funny, if inconsistent, and overall a bit unfulfilling, parody of Triad-as-hero flix. Best bits: opening scenes, with Jacky and Tony as cowardly Triad wannabe losers, particularly a scene where weapons are being issued and Jacky ends up with a fork and Tony a can opener. :) Worst bit: Anita arriving, apparently as Jacky and Tony's mail-order prostitute from Singapore (that's what they think, not what SHE thinks. "She's not that kind of girl," etc.) The endgame of the plot revolves around some bit of Taoist mysticism that I just didn't understand. Nice fight scene at the climax, but the finale, which I won't give away, bit the big salami. (2/5) Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 A pretty mindless movie about two guys who are trying todecide which "big brother" to join. After being dumb for a long time, they finally obtain enough money to create a so-called "model agency" in which Anita Yuen was supposed to be the first model. FYI, Anita played a very limited role in a really dumb movie. (2.5/5) [Reviewed by Brandon S. Ou]