Ga lei lat jiu

As an avid Stephen Chow follower I couldn't keep away from the material that helped his rise to the stardom. So a while ago I started digging into his older films in search of more comedic gold.

I hit a few bumps along the way with films like Faithfully Yours, My Hero and Love Is Love, mainly because they failed to demonstrate the true talent of Stephen Chow and other cast members as a whole. Just when I was about to find an excuse and proclaim Chow as an untapped talent, I came upon Curry & Pepper.

Although it shies away from his later established, fantasy-comedy sequences, it provides handful of fast spoken gags. I wouldn't go as far as to say that Chow and Cheung had the greatest chemistry in the history of buddy-cop movies (not like many others have anyway), but they had enough focus to effortlessly deliver their goods over and over again. Chow tries to come off as a hard-boiled, bullet loving cop with a short temper, while Cheung does a fine job playing a soft-spoken ladies man with similar to Chow's tendencies. Their conflict of interest is over Ann Bridgewater who really doesn't do much except look good and proper.

The end result is satisfying and this movie manages to become one of Chow's best offerings from the late 80's to early 90's era. What ultimately helps this film is that not too many characters are crammed into the story and the routine that Curry & Pepper perform as a two-man-show simply works.

"King of Hong Kong comedy" Stephen Chow partners with popular Canton-pop singer Jacky Cheung in this unexpectedly humourous and fun-to-watch comedy/action flick. It's not as over-the-top as some of Chow's other films but if you like Chow's non-chalant but hilarious style of acting then you'll sure get a good laugh out of this little gem. Jacky Cheung's performance is surprisingly not-so-bad. I think this is one of Chow's best films. Go give it a try!!

When I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 1990 Hong Kong action comedy "Ga Lei Lat Jiu" (aka "Curry and Pepper"), it was actually my first time to watch the movie. In fact, it was actually also the very first time I had heard about it as well.

Writer James Yuen put together a fair good script for the movie, and it combines action and comedy in an enjoyable and entertaining manner. So director Blackie Shou-Liang Ko had good material to bring to the screen.

Aside from a good script and storyline, then the movie also had some good performances. And you know you are in good company with the likes of Stephen Chow, Jacky Cheung and Eric Tsang.

I was genuinely entertained by "Ga Lei Lat Jiu". And if you enjoy the 1990s Hong Kong action comedies, then this is definitely a movie well-worth checking out.

My rating of "Ga Lei Lat Jiu" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Absent of a progressive plot and decent soundtrack, Curry & Pepper still manages to shine with the good performances from Stephen Chow and Jacky Cheung. This dysfunctional pair of cops land themselves on the hit list of one mean triad killer, although meanwhile all they seem to care about is getting the ladies. Their misadventures on the street eventually provoke a confrontation with the baddest of the bad villain, and a shootout ensues which is both laughable and dazzling to watch. This Heroic Bloodshed flick respectably pokes fun at the genre, somehow out-showing an already over-the-top series of crime comedies from the era. The villain here is just too bad-ass, he's a bad-ass for the sake of being bad-ass. The movie is well aware of this, among parodying other typical elements, which personally was one of the reasons it was so charming. The Chinese comedy is silly with endless sexual innuendo, but it really works between the oddball pair. If your checking this out because your a fan of Stephen Chow, or Heroic Bloodshed in general, definitely give it a watch. - 7/10