Mr. Nice Guy (1997)

A Chinese chef accidentally gets involved with a news reporter who filmed a drug bust that went awry and is now being chased by gangs who are trying to get the video tape.

Director:

Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (as Samo Hung)

Writers:

Fibe Ma (screenplay), Edward Tang (screenplay)

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Richard Norton, Miki Lee

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Chan	...	Jackie
Richard Norton	...	Giancarlo
Miki Lee	...	Miki
Karen McLymont	...	Lakisha
Gabrielle Fitzpatrick	...	Diana
Vince Poletto	...	Romeo
Barry Otto	...	Baggio
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung	...	Cyclist (as Sammo Hung)
Emil Chau	...	Ice Cream Vendor
Joyce Godenzi	...	Cook Show Audience (as Mina Godenzi)
Peter Houghton	...	Richard
Peter Lindsay	...	Grank, Demon Leader
David William No	...	Victor (as David No)
Rachel Blakely	...	Sandy, Demon
Judy Green	...	Tina, Demon

Storyline

In Melbourne, the Chinese Chef Jackie has a successful show on television. The drug lord Giancarlo and his gang are dealing cocaine with The Demons gang, but they fight against each other. During the shooting, the snoopy reporter Diana and her partner are accidentally exposed and they flee with a VHS tape with the footage of the negotiation. On the street, she stumbles with Jackie and he helps her fighting against the gangsters. When they are escaping in his car, her tape accidentally mixes with other videotapes that Jackie has in a box on the backseat of his car. Jackie goes to his apartment and meets his girlfriend Miki while his nephews "borrow" the tape to watch. Meanwhile Giancarlo's gangsters are looking for the tape and abduct Miki. Jackie's friend Romeo, who is a police detective, chases the gangsters with other policemen while Jackie teams up with Diana and his friend Lakisha to release Miki from Giancarlo.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | gangster | drugs | reporter | chef | 

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Taglines:

Fight first. Apologize later.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for pervasive action violence, some sensuality and drug content

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English Cantonese Mandarin

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. Nice Guy

Filming Locations:

Chinatown Mall, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,442,468, 22 March 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$12,674,183, 7 June 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min (original) 84 min (DVD) 86 min (Fan Edit)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (US prints) SDDS (US prints)

Color:

Color (Cineart)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Sammo Kam-Bo Hung's wife Joyce Godenzi made a cameo appearance as cook show audience in departmant store scene.

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Goofs

When Diana is attacked in her house while she is wearing only her white bra and panties, the label in her panties is sticking up. When she later runs down the street it is tucked inside. She could not have noticed, nor redressed it in the meantime.

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Crazy Credits

During the final credits some outtakes (mostly action scenes) are shown

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Wild Things/Niagara, Niagara/Mr. Nice Guy/Wide Awake/Fireworks (1998)

User Reviews

Rumble in the Melbourne CBD?

In my review of 'Who Am I?', I mentioned that 'Rumble in the Bronx', 'First Strike', 'Mr Nice Guy', and 'Who Am I?' all followed a similar formula as Jackie tried to capture western audiences. After watching 'Mr Nice Guy' again, I was actually kind of surprised to realize that it was almost a carbon copy of 'Rumble in the Bronx' - a Rumble in Melbourne's Central Business District, anyway.

Giancarlo (Richard Norton), Melbourne's top drug lord is angry because Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) has a tape that incriminates him. Jackie (Jackie Chan), a TV chef and arse-kicker extraordinaire comes into possession of the tape, making Giancarlo angry enough to kidnap Jackie's girlfriend Miki (Miki Lee). This makes Jackie angry. The end.

Wow. It seems like I've written out the whole plot and embellished upon it rather than summarized it. I'm just kidding - or am I? 'Mr Nice Guy' might be a contender for the thinnest plot in the universe prize, and the so called "supporting actors" don't even seem to be trying to act. Almost everything that happens in 'Rumble in the Bronx' is recycled for this. Unfortunately, the hovercraft was replaced by heavy machinery. Nothing can be an adequate substitute for Rumble's hovercraft.

Jackie kicking arse is the only reason for anyone to watch 'Mr Nice Guy'. It doesn't feature anything new or innovative, but any keen fan of Jackie should notice various 'Protector', 'Police Story' or 'Rumble in the Bronx' moments. It is a fun and exciting action film though, and that's what Jackie is all about.

And now for something completely different: Yet again, 'Mr Nice Guy' features Jackie playing a character called Jackie. I'm convinced that Jackie quit acting for several years, and took up a life as a cop, spy, chef, etc. All the while he had a film crew filming his adventures in order to create easy action movies. It's the only logical explanation - the writers can't be that lazy, right?

'Mr Nice Guy' reeks of being direct to video, but that doesn't stop it from being a fun action movie. Fans of Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung should give this a look - 7/10