by Jonathan Crow
synopsis
Not to be confused with Orson Welles' noir classic, this film is a slick crime thriller directed by set designer-turned-director Tony Au Ding-ping. Shady cop Liang (Tony Leung Kar-fai) gives young Coco Xu (Rosamund Kwan Chi-lam) a painful choice: either help him catch a gangster named Yuan King (Michael Wong Man-tak) or go to jail for embezzlement. She agrees and yet once she starts to befriend King, who treats her and her dotty mother kindly, she starts to fall for him. In contrast, Liang seems initially like a brutish thug but eventually he too starts to reveal his gentle side. Soon, an unlikely love triangle forms, making Liang all the more keen to nail Yuan King, setting the stage for tragedy.
