The Corruptor
Nick Chen: Chow Yun-Fat
Danny Wallace: Mark Wahlberg
Henry Lee: Ric Young
Bobby Vu: Byron Mann
Uncle Benny: Kim Chan
director: James Foley
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0142192
other links:
Version reviewed: DVD
Ratings:
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DVD Audio: 10 of 10
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DVD Video: 10 of 10
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Subtitles: 10 of 10
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Story: 5 of 10
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Performances: 6 of 10
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CYF: 9 of 10
No matter what else you might think of the direction done by James Foley for
this picture, you have to give the guy credit for one thing: he actually recognized
that Chow Yun-Fat can act, and isn't just a male model with a penchant
for using a double fistfull of Berettas as a fashion accessory. It's about
time, Hollywood people!
While certainly not Best Picture material, The Corruptor is made
interesting - and enjoyable - by its sincere attempt to be a Hong Kong
action film. We have all of the usual elements: dark and gritty streets,
the stacatto of gunfire, helpless women, Chow Yun-Fat eating, a car chase and
the underlying question of 'who can be considered a hero when everyone
is corrupt?'. While these elements aren't put together with the jigsaw-puzzle
precision of the best of Ringo Lam or John Woo, this is a pretty good effort
for an American director working under Hollywood constraints.
Chow Yun-Fat plays Nick Chen, a decorated police officer in New York City,
now a precinct captain and head of the Asian Gangs Unit. Well-dressed, with a
boyish charm and a ready joke, Chen seems at first to be a Shining Knight in
Blue. CYF's portrayal of Chen is masterful, given the rather skimpy script
with which he was working; Chen has an edge to him that is positively
disturbing. At one point in the film there is a split-second - an innocuous
moment otherwise, where Chen grins and shrugs his shoulders inside of his
black leather car coat - in which CYF gives a startling glimpse into a facet
of Nick Chen that makes you believe the next moment he's going to start
intoning "heeeeeeeeeeere's JOHNNY!" A brilliant moment that is just a tiny mote
in the eye but takes the entire color of the film two shades darker.
Mark Wahlberg, as Danny Wallace the "green cop" with a secret, is not an
incompetent actor; while I have not seen any of his other
work, I would hazard a guess that he is relatively inexperienced (as are most
Hollywood celebrities-turned-actors, especially when contrasted with CYF who
has been acting for 25 years). In trying to match the tone of Chow Yun-Fat's
understated and ultra-cool demeanor, Wahlberg has a tendency to come across as flat
and unappealing. Given more time, experience and perhaps a couple of acting lessons
I think that could change. As it is, his character is reduced to a shadow in the
presence of Nick Chen, but luckily for this film that rather works out considering
the plot. We are given some bemusing shots of Wahlberg in various states of undress;
perhaps it is because of my unfamiliarity with most recent Hollywood trends, but
were those there for a reason? Considering the insistence of the script that this
is not a man who admires the Chinese only for prurient reasons, the inclusion of
his repeated adventures with Asian prostitutes seemed to put that part of the
plot to a lie.
The action sequences in this film are good by Hollywood standard, given the
rules and regulations and scrutiny of minutae such as how many bullets are allowed
per hour of screen time and other such inanities by the Hollywood Powers That Be.
The car chase scene was emasculated by the studio (the uncut version appears as
an extra selection on the DVD) to fall in line with some mythical 'acceptable
body count'. While this isn't Bullitt by any means, it is well-done. Too bad
a plot point was removed by the excision of one shot (in which a bicyclist is
intentionally killed); the concept of "roadblock" was weakened a great deal when this
shot was removed. Since everything is so exactingly timed and rehearsed, and bodies and
bullets counted down to the last fragment, such a thing as the illusion of spontaneity -
a staple of Hong Kong action films - is all but removed. But since this is Hollywood, that's
just one of the things you have to make a mental note to include in your 'suspension of
disbelief' file.
My major gripe with this picture is the annoying inclusion of seemingly random music
excerpts which did nothing to lend mood, didn't further the plot or give us insight
into the characters. Most of the time the musics were simply distracting. Perhaps this
was an attempt to make the film appeal to those who were weaned on MTV, perhaps because
the music was used to great effect (one of the few great effects) in The
Replacement Killers. Whatever the reason, the soundtrack was annoying at times
and boring at others. Incidental music was fine, but spare me the urban hip-hop one
minute and Frank Sinatra the next. There is nothing wrong with either one, but let's make
sure the music fits the movie next time, okay? The one sensible inclusion, a song by
Cantopop artist Alex To, is not on the soundtrack audio CD. Figures.
A friend of mine confessed to me that she had gone to the theatre to see this film 18
times. I don't know if I would have that kind of dedication, even to Chow Yun-Fat, to
endure some of the elements of this film that many times (nor do I think my hearing
would have ever recovered from the Dolby Surround Sound of that awful music mix), but
this is a film worth watching at least once. Chow Yun-Fat manages to squeeze in some of
his considerable abilities in character portrayal, his English is much improved over
the careful syllables of The Replacement Killers and it's always interesting
to see what he can do with a script. Nick Chen as given us by CYF is a multi-layered
man, a pure soul wrapped in a shroud of corruption, all held inside the handsome
shell of a charming hero. That's plenty to keep you occupied while the rest of the
film blunders by.
The DVD has English subtitles for the hearing impaired. There are quite a few "extras"
for those who look for such things, including an annoying music video and an overly long
"Making Of..." feature; while I enjoyed the interview clips with CYF and Mark Wahlberg,
I really couldn't care less about listening to a marketing rep tell me about the making
of the trailer. The glimpses behind the scenes did nothing but reinforce my belief
that watching movies is infinitely more enjoyable than making them; the actual process
seems as if it would bore a normal human to tears. All the more reason to be grateful
to great stars such as Chow Yun-Fat. They may make a lot compared to the guy who
drives the lunch truck, but they earn that money and no mistake.
All in all, at least rent this one to see it. Priced competitively (especially to
those of us who buy HK discs) this is a film you will probably want to own as I
think you will come back to see Nick Chen again and again as time goes by.
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