Close fans of Stephen Chow (such as myself) may have noticed that his movies have taken quite a turn over the last few years. Maybe it's because he's getting older, or maybe he is either no longer willing or able to perform the wacky roles that he's done before, but his comedies have become much more cerebral in nature, and while most of his work is still every bit as good (if not better) as before, his newer films have definitely a newer flavor. Moreover, he now seems to try to convey messages instead of just merely entertain, and as such movies such as King of Comedy have much more involved storylines than ones like the Fight Back to School films.



Personally, I saw King of Comedy as Stephen Chow's tribute to the new, unsuccessful actor. In this world of mega-superstars, very few people really appreciate the skill, talent and devotion that movie extras possess. His character, Wan Tin Sau, struggles to break into the movie business, perhaps not because he's not talented, but probably because he hasn't been given the chance to adequately showcase his knowledge. Certainly, his quest to try to get work in the John Woo-esque movie being made in the neighborhood is very well described and quite memorable.



There is a love story in this movie as well, and I'm not talking about some of those other Chow movies where he gets the girl after some ridiculous showdown with the movie's villain. Instead, Wan Tin Sau and Piu Piu (Cecilia Cheung) are seen as two down-on-their-luck people who managed to find each other even during harsh times. This part of the story was also enjoyable.



There aren't too many faults with this movie, but the few that it has are quite memorable. As others have pointed out, the ending was kind of ridiculous and came out of nowhere. Maybe the producers ran out of money and the script had to be cut! In any event, this romantic comedy definitely has a different (but equally satisfying) feel than the standard Chow slapstick of years past, and is definitely worthy of my recommendation. Rating = 9/10