Review of Rich and Famous (1987) by Jason A — 28 Feb 2009

A typical film in the "heroic bloodshed" and gunplay genre in Hong Kong, 'Rich and Famous' is one of the myriad of films with Chow Yun Fat as a triad figure of some sort in his post-'A Better Tomorrow' career boost.

It is also one of many movies in which he co-stars with the great Andy Lau (God of Gamblers, Infernal Affairs). Alan Tam (pop star and Armor of God alumnus) plays Lau's cousin; heck, even crazy Danny "I believe I'm a cop in real life" Lee drops in for a performance as- you guessed it- a frazzled police officer for a couple of scenes.

Despite the DVD cover, this movie is actually about two brothers who are swept into the world of the Triads in 1960s Hong Kong, and then betrayal and a kind of Cain-Abel rivalry develops. I thought this was an okay movie: I've seen worse HK fare, and I've seen far better; Rich and Famous is kind of like watching a Valerie Bertanelli Lifetime movie- you know how things are going to work out and the basic plot.

Such is this movie to the Triad-Heroic Bloodshed genre. This is definitely not John Woo action, it's very character-driven and aspires to tell an epic story that spans a decade in less than 1 &1/2 hours.

An aspiration at which it unfortunately fails. There was a little to chuckle at in here: the saving the puppy in slow-mo in the rain scene by Chow and his girlfriend was a nice touch; Tam and Lau on the scooter was priceless too.

Things start to really unravel film-wise towards the end, there's all sorts of crap: betrayal, weddings, Tam hitting people with metal, and scooter shoot-outs. Being a HK flick, I forgave this silliness, as these movies are often notoriously uneven, both genre-wise and in tone.

It's a product of its time- 1980s HK, when everybody wanted to be a cool triad shooting guns in slow mo-, and pedestrian stuff, not raising the bar in any sense; but Chow always looks sweet shooting a gun, does he not?