King of Comedy

This is a really funny, laugh-out-loud comedy. It is full of brilliant little bits, and I loved it from an early sequence in which an actor is asked to express a series of emotional states resulting from an improbably sequence of events. There are also a couple of clever, funny take-offs of martial art scenes.

On the other hand, this is the most insanely ridiculously script I think I have ever come across. It really makes no sense from one minute to the next. I mean, for the first hour or so it's improbably but within the realm of slapstick comedy, but then it seems as though all pretext of writing a story goes out the window in favor of doing a bunch of unrelated scenes strung together by impossible events.

But I still liked it. The characters manage to seem real and affecting in spite of the absurdity of their situations (especially Cecelia Chung as a loud-mouthed hooker with a soft, sweet center). And it is wonderfully funny.

This is the film Stephen Chow directed before Shaolin Soccer. There is no kung fu in it, but it is hilarious nonetheless. Chow plays a down and out actor who can't get a job even as an extra. He works at a Neighborhood Welfare House and, in his spare time, gives "acting" lessons. These lessons turn out to be for people like a young wannabe Triad member who wants to learn to act tough so he can collect money, or for an expensive call girl to act virginal so she can make more money. All this and more - the subtitles were a bit tough to understand at times, but all in all I laughed quite a bit and it made me think of Stephen Chow as a Peter Sellers type of guy here. This film also hilariously spoofs John Woo films and has a cameo by Jackie Chan!

Any Chinese who's now 30-40 yrs old would've watched this over a dozen times throughout the years, everytime you'll grasp something new, something you thought it was just a laugh bit but turned out to be another meaning hidden inside.

This of one of the two most favorite movies of Stephen Chow himself, the other one is God of Cookery. After seeing almost all of his films, I know why. This isn't just some comedy celebrating the millenium, it's the tragedy of his life, written in a humorous way that intended to inspire people. I don't know what the English version is like, but with the Mandarin version there are catchphrases that are still being used today, it's clever and dumb at the same time, but the ironic part is it's all true even now it's 19yrs later.

Too bad there's no HD version, really looking forward to them releasing a blu-ray.

I don't know if the dvd I was watching was screwed up or something, or got mixed with some other film... but this movie starts out great and then takes a huge turn at the end in the wrong direction.

I don't know if its just these New Years films that have to get finished on time, so they hack up the story to finish it on time or what, but after starting so well, the end of this film is a big let down.

Cecilia is the best thing about this movie by far, this is one of her first big rolls and she handles it well, its a big departure from every other roll I've seen her in, which is what makes it so interesting, rather then just being the sweet good girl as in Help and Everyday is Valentines Day, etc, she plays a bitchy prostitute who learns to fall in love w/ Chow.

I recommend it to die hard Stephen Chow fans (like me) and die hard Cecilia fans (like I'm becoming).

Stephen chow once again proves himselfto be the most prolific comedian around Asia.When you think he has nothing left to joke or make fun of...Stephen once again come up with a brillant cast and some how proves to the audience that he's certainly The One. Endless ideas seem to come out fom his mind.But this time i think he out did himself by actually putting some serious overtones to the movie.Somehow he made it work,he was somewhat in a relationship with Cecilia Cheung.If you haven't seen any of Stephen past work you'd think he's kinda lame in this.I really liked him in this actually its nice to see him in tears for once.He being the one all others look down upon,no designer wear,no expensive cars....just the basic Stephen Chow at his best yet