Hak bak do (2006)

Director:

Herman Yau

Writers:

Herman Yau (written by)
Jacky Wong (co-scriptwriter) ...

Release Date:

31 August 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Cast

Nick Cheung	...	Harry Sin
Francis Ng	...	Don Dark
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Lung (as Anthony Wong)
Rain Li	...	Cat
Kwok Cheung Tsang	...	Mini B (as Derek Tsang)
Johnny Chen	...	Tung
Yuen-Leung Poon	...	Jimmy (as Calvin Poon)
Lester Chit-Man Chan	...	Mr. Cheung (as Lester Chan)
King-Man Chik	...	Amy (as Noel)
Pauline Yam	...	Madam Ho
Sau-Ming Tsang	...	Sam (as Raymond Tsang)
Eddie Pang	...	Buddy
Ming-Sing Wong	...	Dave (as Sam Wong)
Y.Y. Lam	...	Kitty, Dave's Girlfriend
Wong Ting Pong	...	Internal Investigations Office Constable

Also Known As:

On the Edge (International: English title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:88 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:18PL | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Universe Entertainment

Paved with good intentions

Herman Yau's On the Edge is one of those films you'd like to like more, but it never makes enough of its premise – a shame, because it's a good one. It's another post-Infernal Affairs undercover cop movie, but this time it deals with the problems Nick Cheung's cop has adjusting to life on the force after the case is closed when everyone he has known for the past eight years now hates him and all his new colleagues distrust him. Suddenly finding himself a completely different person and going from being beaten up by the cops to having to work with the very officers who used to beat him to take down people who were once his closest friends, unable to rebuild old relationships or form new ones and suspected by the Internal Affairs department as a matter of routine, it's only a matter of time before he cracks up (apparently the majority of undercover cops fail to adjust and leave the force after three years). Yet unfortunately while we may understand, we don't really care, kept constantly at a distance from the film as it moves between his vibrant undercover past and his empty future. The key offenders are the underdeveloped script and Lau's low-key direction, which aims for gravity but fails to get to the heart of the matter as a serious drama and seems almost detached from the few big set pieces to work as an action movie. Similarly, while it's hard to fault the performances, only Francis Ng and Rain Li really register: most, like Anthony Wong, convince but don't compel. A pity.

Incidentally, the HK Universe DVD comes with a featurette about the slightly bizarre Hong Kong premiere, which involved asking the cast which one was the best actor, getting models to feed them chocolates and then asking them to pin flags on a giant map of Hong Kong to represent the areas they want the film to do good box-office in. They clearly do things differently there…