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.

Stephen Chow paradoxically portrays the life of an "extra" actor, who is quite committed to acting, yet never manages to land anything better than one-line scripts. Cecilia Cheung leads an equally gloomy life, in which her dreams have been shattered after her boyfriend ordered her to work in a night club to make a living. Cecilia's inability to lure customers results in her attending Stephen's bizarre neighborhood acting classrooms; from then on the movie will follow their fortunes and misfortunes.

The good: as usual, Stephen Chow's movies have hilarious moments and, at the same time, explore everything that can be squeezed out from the main role. While God of Cookery was about "cooking with a heart", here the director deals with the topic of "working hard, to act better" and shows that, somehow, we all are actors in the movie that is our life. Indeed, the movie does not need extravagant settings such as Shaolin monasteries or soccer stadiums, but we get to witness many problems of ordinary Chinese suburbs, including kids becoming triad members and people leading a poor life.

The bad: Considering King of Comedy's social involvement, I would have expected a more linear story. Instead, the narration flow is a roller-coaster of moods, in which every one, not just Stephen Chow, seems a bit loony and overdramatizes every aspect of his/her life. Imagine what A Beautiful Mind would be, if also Jennifer Connelly and the other actors were like John Nash! Extravagant, to say the least! 7/10

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.

A nobody actor tries to make it in the movie industry. Meanwhile, on the sides he teaches acting: A call girl learns to act like a virgin, and small time bullies learn to act tough.

If you like asian humor, you'll love this one. Me and my friends had a good laugh watching the situation comic in this movie. If you have a 12 year old sense of humor like us you'll be rolling on the floor. Much better than the tepid, often uninspired US comedies.

FYI: $7 hong-kong = $1 US, that will help you see how cheap the characters are.

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).