Duk gai

'Dealer/ Healer' is the 'bad-guy-makes-good' story of Chen Hua (Sean Lau), the once infamous gang leader of the '13 Tsz Wan Shan' who renounces his bad habits of drug abuse and trafficking after a prison stint and starts a rehabilitation centre to help those who were lost like him but are looking to turn over a new leaf. Chen also had a reputation for being a 'fixer', often acting as a mediator between two rival gangs before their enmity threatened to get out of hand and necessitated formal police action. Chen was also known to be fiercely loyal to his two buddies – Trumpet (Lam Ka Tung) and Kitty (Zhang Jin) – whom he made sure kicked the drug habit with him after they were released from prison. And last but not least, he was just as fiercely loyal to his one true love, Ke Rou (Jiang Yiyan), whom he first courted as a brash teenager, gave plenty of grief as a reckless gangster, and tries to win back the favour of upon his transformation.

It's a lot to (pardon the pun) deal with in the span of just 100 mins – indeed, these events span in real life over three decades and could arguably be material for an entire TVB series – and true enough, veteran director Lawrence Lau's movie could really do with some (pardon the pun, again) healing of its own. Chiefly, neither Lau nor his screenwriters, Chan Man Keung and Lin Huiju, are sure of just what they want their movie to be or what they want their viewers to take away from it, so much so that it simply ends up being completely scattershot. As a cautionary tale on drugs, it is hardly compelling enough; as a tale on brotherhood, it fails to convey that deep sense of loyalty between Chen Hua, Trumpet and Kitty; and as an inspirational story, it lacks a strong enough character arc for us to identify and empathise with Chen Hua's decision, determination and conviction to make a fresh start. Probably the only thing it does fairly well is to transport you back to Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s, when crime was rampant, cops were corrupt and gangsters were the rage.

As much as this China-approved production doesn't intend to glamourise the heydays of the triads, 'Dealer/ Healer' is ironically much more engaging when portraying the ins and outs of how drugs were peddled by these organised thugs. Oh yes, you can almost feel the conscious effort by the producers to denounce such behaviour by interrupting scenes of Chen Hua and his cohort dealing drugs in Kowloon's infamous Walled City with that of Chen Hua being interviewed by a panel assessing his suitability for the 'The JCI Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons' award many years later, where he describes how and why he had renounced his erroneous ways of the past. And yet the former is probably the most captivating part of the film, portraying vividly the dark, dank alleyways of the City carved into districts by various gangs, the addicts hooked to its lifeblood and the police officials which help the gangs safeguard their turf and/or muscle into their rivals' territories.

One of these aforementioned officials is Halley (Louis Koo), who saves Chen Hua's life when the latter is found trafficking drugs on his own outside the gang and will come to develop a close bond of friendship with when he is released from prison. Unfortunately, Halley is treated as much an afterthought as Trumpet and Kitty, ultimately squandering the strong chemistry between Lau and Koo in no less than their sixteenth collaboration together. Ditto for Trumpet and Kitty, who aside from underscoring how Chen Hua remained loyal to his childhood buddies through the years, don't seem important enough to warrant much attention or detail – and therefore manifestly wasting the talents of two over-qualified supporting actors Lam and Zhang.

Undoubtedly, both wouldn't have passed on the chance to star beside Lau, who is not only one of the most well-respected Hong Kong actors of our time but also one of the very best. Lau brings his everyman likability to a role that could easily have come across as sanctimonious especially in the latter half; instead, he plays the redeemed Chen Hua with dignity and humility, and is the reason we still manage to root for his character (such as to reunite with Ke Rou) despite the script's slipshod character work. Lau also proves his versatility yet again playing an entirely different Chen Hua in the early bits of the film, so consumed by his own drug habit that he fails to see how that is destroying his relationship with Ke Rou as well as endangering the lives of his own buddies.

Truth be told, 'Dealer/ Healer' would probably be a tidy little drama were it made in director Lawrence Lau's heydays in the 1990s, given its strong distinctive Hong Kong flavour in theme, character and backdrop. Lau's sensibilities, as well as probably that of veteran screenwriter Chan Man Keung, have not changed since that era, and on that account of being a full-bodied Hong Kong movie, 'Dealer/ Healer' would surely be good enough to recommend. Yet in the wake of much more arresting drug-themed movies like Derek Yee's 'Protégé', Johnnie To's 'Drug War' and Benny Chan's 'The White Storm', 'Dealer/ Healer' comes off a lot less outstanding for its unfocused narrative and under-developed characters. And like its title suggests, it is also ultimately bipolar in how it wants to 'deal' and 'heal', the former half proving to be intriguing and even gripping compared to a latter half that is always bland and occasionally boring.

I feel that this film is about recovery and redemption. I understand why it is structured in this manner. It is a testaments of 1 main person aka boss and also his 2 other friends. All 3 are equally important. And also the man who chose to continue the dark path but love his brother enough to entrust his care to boss. They helped each others. The main message of love, re-start again and finding hope is clearly stated in this film. I feel that it offered a very kind and embracing view of faith. It is not the entertainment film, it is a story of redemption and the negative effects of drugs and the gangster lifestyle. How one's life can be transformed when one chose to seek a right path with God & dedication. To extend it further, this message still applies to everyone. Life is hard. It is about how one's choice to choose to go through life's challenges, despite being so hard,every single day. With dedication & determination, one can overcome any obstacle in faith. Kitty died as a sober man, a fighter. He fought a good fight till the end. There is light in every tunnel. To go through it, one has to learn to face it with courage. With or without acknowledgement of God, I understand the boss's faith by the works he done and the man he has become by the fruits of his spirit which is love, patience, self control & so forth. This film is empowering. Thank you for this hopeful film!

I love gangster movie from China and Hong Kong although sometime the complex plot and characters motivation make me really tired to keep up so to see Dealer/Healer a gangster movie with a dash of heroic bloodshed genre that focus more on the aftermath of characters than their crime activities is very refreshing.The sleazy and dirty of the old days and good performance from the cast especially Ching Wan Lau make Dealer/Healer a enjoyable thrill ride from start to finish

The sense of age is very poor, the story is not deep, the feelings are not natural. If it were not for a few old opera bones, it would be no different from domestic movies.

Have been a fan of Director Lawrence Ah Mon's earlier work, especially his neo-realist approach to story-telling exposing the underbelly of HK's lost generation, beginning with the critically acclaimed GANGS (1988, Ah Mon had the capability to create create conversation and social impact in Hong Kong in spite of GANGS (1988)not having any commercial appeal nor did it seem to aim to entertain the masses.

In the years following the success of GANGS, Ah Mon became a director known for his ability to integrate realism (almost in a documentary approach with some of the better work) into commercial films that dealt with topics and subjects that reflected the darker sides of HK's history, and with films such as LEE ROCK (1991), SPACKED OUT(2008), and most recently BESIEGED CITY (2008), these are some of his finest work in my opinion.

Although Ah Mon's work in between may have had bigger budgets and starring some of the biggest movies stars in Hong Kong at the time, the more commercial ventures showed a lack of depth compared to his better work on films that aimed to highlight social problem in Hong Kong. Even with some of the more commercially successful films, they came across as generic and formulaic - DEALER/HEALER in parts fall into that category.

First act of the film sets up the story not unlike Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN America (1984), or John Woo's BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990), which the latter obviously took inspiration from the former. This is also the weaker part of the movie in that the scenes are cut overly tight, likely to reduce duration of the movie, but resulting in the first 2 acts coming across as if it's a movie trailer, instead of allowing scenes to breathe and characters to be developed.

The visuals to the movie are stunning, and much of it can be credited to the excellent CG effects to bring back 1960's Hong Kong in uncanny realism - to the point of overshadowing the actual story and characters by emphasizing on the history of Hong Kong's past, especially the subculture of the underbelly that was the legendary Kowloon Walled City - once a part of Hong Kong even the law could not successfully interfere with all the vices that made Kowloon City the iconic district that often became a central character to movies, dramas, and fiction in the past 20 years. *since the "walls" were finally torn down in the 1990's.

The top-billing ensemble cast (led by Sean Lau, Louis Koo, Gordon Lam, and a surprisingly effective performance by Zhang Jin) delivers on-mark performances. The weakness of the editing in the first half of the movie limits the characters and the story couldn't engage or develop effectively. In most of the 1st and 2nd acts, the main characters in the story become mere plot elements that serve to supporting an attempt to retell the history of Kowloon City, and HK's less-privileged during the period often referred to as part of the "BENEATH THE LION'S ROCK" generation.

Where the first 2 acts to the movie focus too much on HK nostalgia, making it hard for the characters to develop, the 3rd act makes up for it - Act 1 & 2 have viewers left to be confused whether the film is meant as a history lesson starring well-known actors, or that there is an actual original narrative/story we are to be engaged and to be entertained by.

As the story moves to the present, and comes out of the trappings of flash-backs and actors in bad wigs (somehow bad wigs have become a HK cinema convention and common device to depict characters in their younger years, which rarely works except to generate unintended laughs), the story/movie takes a turn from a historical recount of HK's past, to an engaging story not unlike John Woo's earlier successful crime films that emphasized on brotherhood and the underdog struggle against establishment, rules, traditions, and impossible odds. Action star Zhang Jin completely steals the show in scenes that has nothing to do with action and fighting, but shows the vulnerability of a man who has accepted all the elements and hardship life has dished out at and knocked against a simpleton whose ambition was just to hang-on and get by.

As an added twist that looks inspired by series such as CSI and COLD CASE, we see Ah Mon employing devices to story-telling that remind us of some of Andrew Lau's work with Felix Chong and Alan Mak (INFERNAL AFFAIRS).

All in all, the pockets of solid performances and compelling story telling don't save the film from being less than what it could have been. The inconsistencies in narrative approach make the film less a Lawrence Ah Mon signature piece that made GANGS (1988), SPACKED OUT (2000), and BESIEGED CITY (2009) iconic examples of HK neo-realist Indy favorites (similar to some of the earlier work by directors FRUIT CHAN, and ANN Hui). Viewers who are not familiar with HK nostalgia will not be compelled by the realism of the scenes that brought back HK's most cherished years. Yet what is nice to see for fans of Ah Mon's past work, along with John Woo's earlier crime-films, is that old tricks still work when they are done well - this could have been a great film if the movie allowed scenes to breathe and characters to more appropriately flesh out. It could have been a new milestone that pays homage to past innovative crime films that made HK the Hollywood EAST that it once was.