georgie (daniel wu) is a successful chef, living in thailand. he's also gay and, since having been sent to boarding school many years ago, has never returned to his native hong kong. georgie's father, first brother (yuen biao), on his deathbed, instructs his right hand man, master eight (law kar-ying), and his son, kin (chapman to), to find his son and bring him to hong kong. first brother is he head of a triad family and wants his son to take over from him...

master eight and kin arrive in thailand, just as first brother dies, but they soon find georgie and talk him into coming back to hong kong to be their big brother. although, they've actually found sam (eason chen), georgie's (straight) flatmate, who fancies living as a big brother for a while, with georgie assuming the role of sam; georgie's boyfriend...

hmm, this sounds more complicated than it actually is. however, complications arise when, upon returning to hong kong for first brother's funeral, a member of a rival gang, cheng chow (stephen fung), makes it clear that he is ready to wage war.

well, i've had this dvd for ages, but couldn't get the subs to work. still, after some jiggery-pokery, i got them working. woo!

as a directorial debut for stephen fung, things are a bit uneven and he tries to cram an awful lot in. mixing a cast of youngsters, old-timers and some notable cameos, the film is just as jumbled in content: there's touches of drama, romance and some action, although it is predominantly a comedy. there's times when things don't quite work and styles clash, but it made me laugh and kept me well entertained for its duration...

chen, to, law and mok, who plays the daughter of another triad boss, all have their moments, with to and law making a pretty good, comedic, father and son team. however, as you might imagine, wu is the real star here.

gay men are not usually treated too well in hong kong cinema; but credit must go to fung, his co-writers and daniel wu, for creating a gay man in hong kong cinema, who is a well-rounded individual, pouring cold water on past, more cringe-worthy characters. still, that's not to say that there's not moments which aren't as progressive, but these are few and their silliness is further highlighted by wu's presence.

not a great film, but a good watch, which is a lot of fun.