dharmaburning

Plot sound bland: Guy falls in love with friend's wife, then friend got murdered, evidence points to wife, yadda yadda yadda. But wait. Once it gets to the second half, instead of delving into a slasher cliche, it later became clear to guy: that nothing is and never was and the line between good and evil blurred. Viewers should realised there is no real villains in the end, just victims left to the society who feels no mercy to any criminals, no matter how sad their lives were in the beginning. We used to be this child, so pure and innocent like a clean cloth, only to be tainted bit by bit by life's difficulties and our inner demons. There is so many other meanings found underneath this movie's erotic thriller exterior and the ending is haunting enough to remind us of this, that many should watch it again and again. It's unfortunate that this movie was buried along with other B-grade erotic thrillers. Hopefully, some filmmaker might pick this material up and turn it into something more deserving.

This movie has the best action scenes ever made, as if the creators have taken a few lessons from hong kong action flicks and some anime. Martin Blank is so ubercool, you really want to be him and so human you can actually relate to him. Where else can you find interesting stories, interesting characters and disarmingly wicked wit in a movie like this? It's like watching a Coens-created Hong Kong action flick. Or a Coens-directed Gunsmith Cats side story.

No really, it's the best contemporary crime flick, deserving a huge cult following. All the characters are SOOOO cool, the shootout scenes are a cut above your average Hong Kong action-minus the slow motions or pyrotechnics. The coolest ones are the two leads, played by Kyra and Stanly, as buddies/love interests. Stanley's awesome as his character blows the baddies off the screen, with his ailments adding more to his cool, calm sense of obliviousness, while Kyra is a true kick-a** chick with a few human qualities which doesn't deter her strengths. Robin Tunney is charming, in a Matthew Perry sort of way. Overall THE COOLEST FLICK EVER. If you're wondering what's with the Gunsmith Cats in my summary, it's because of some wishful thinking that Kyra's character could teach Rally Vincent a thing or two about how to be tough, smart and cool yet feminine.

I wished.