The Conman appears to be Wong Jing's attempt to return to the massive success of the classic God of Gamblers films. In fact, from what I can tell, the Chinese title would literally translate as "Saint of Gamblers 1999" The Conman, while a good film in its own right, is no God of Gamblers and Andy Lau is no Chow Yun-Fat.

Andy Lau plays King, a conman who kills a man at the beginning of the film, in a gambling scam gone bad. His wife, pregnant with their child, leaves him at the same time because of his adultery. When he gets out five years, he is befriended by Dragon, a low level triad member, and his sister Ching (Athena Chu).

The plot is pretty straightforward, though well executed. Andy Lau plays yet another charming guy (he really needs to try something different one of these days) and the actor who plays Dragon provides some good comic relief.

The Conman is a fun film and provides quality entertainment, though nothing terribly innovative. It is good for an evening of light entertainment when you're not in the mood to have to think too hard.