The Fun, the Luck and the Tycoon (Johnnie To, 1989) To teams up once again with Chow Yun-Fat and Sylvia Chang, this time for a remake of
Coming to America. After the debacle that was
All About Ah-Long, I was pretty worried going into this one. Like his other early comedies, this one is silly and contrived as well. But like those others, the cast pretty much sells the whole thing. Chow Yun-Fat just seems like he can't help but ooze charm no matter what he's doing. He even makes killing a rat seem like a fun time! Sylvia Chang's appeal is still lost on me but she doesn't have much to do here and it really doesn't mater.
Like all these other To films from the 80s, here again there's specific scenes that seem like signature To to me. An opening scene where CWF is practicing fencing while running down a circular staircase is pretty amazing. There's an odd romance sideplot involving a couple of kids who seem way too young to be involved in any such thing. It's weird and disconcerting but still ultimately funny (or maybe I just don't mind the inappropriateness).
Everyone gives it their all and maybe because I was in a pretty good mood to begin with, I enjoyed it all.