This movie takes the typical over-the-edge-cop-with-family-troubles-against-evil villain film formula and spins it around on
its head, producing something imperfect but interesting.

Lau Ching-Wan plays the familiar over-the-edge-cop-with-family-troubles. Carman Lee plays the
long-suffering-wife-of-the-over-the-edge-cop. The beginning of the film also introduces the
villain-who-kills-without-remorse-and-has-a-grudge-against-the-cop (Tou Chung-Wah). All extremely familiar.

The unfamiliar part is that rather than spending most of its time focusing on the conflict between the cop and villain, the
film focuses on the relationship between Lau Ching-Wan and Carman Lee. This is quite the turnaround from what I was
expecting. Even though the material here veers towards melodrama at times, it generally remains strong. As they struggle to
rebuild their relationship, we can see that it is not easy for either one of them to forgive.

The movie jumps back to a big action finale at the ending, which is extremely well filmed (actually, the entire film is well
filmed). For some reason, I was consistently reminded of the American TV show NYPD Blue during many of the scenes
focusing on the police work. This isn't a bad thing, as that show is generally directed quite well.

A subtle but effective aspect of the script is that events that may seem minor near the beginning of the film are brought back
later on, often with important consequences. I liked the fact that everything seemed to be well though out, rather than just
thrown in for no particular reason.

There is one major flaw to this movie. What is the villain's motivation? So much time is spent on the relationship between
Lau Ching-Wan and Carman Lee that there is no motivation for why the villain would spend all that energy trying to kill Lau
Ching-Wan. This could easily have been resolved with a few extra scenes and it really feels like a big omission.

It also has some seriously bad pop songs in it. The worst is a love song sung in English by someone with either a very poor
grasp of English pronunciation, a speech impediment, or both. Was this intended as comic relief? Why do so many directors
feel it necessary to throw in these stupid "music videos". It almost never works and is usually just frustrating to the viewer,
who wants to see the story, not hear a bad pop song (exceptions: Chungking Express and Lost and Found).

Lau Ching-Wan and Carman Lee are both in fine form, though I have yet to see Carman Lee give a better performance than
she did in The Odd One Dies. I particularly liked their scenes together as they rebuild their relationship.

While this film is not perfect, it is unusual, a negative image of the usual cop vs. villain movie. Different is good, and this film
is interesting enough to be worth seeing.