Men Suddenly in Black (2003)

Absolutely Fantastic

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I'm not sure if "Men in Black" is supposed to mean something in Cantonese/Hong Kong but I was very amused by how they filmed this movie. Though it's a simple story of four men looking to play while their spouses/partners are away, it's set like a typical Hong Kong thriller, with action sequences, scenes of faux suspense, and even a twist that's revealed at the end. The cast is uneven. The veterans are effortlessly good - Eric Tsang, Chapman To, Jordan Chan, Teresa Mo - but they make the newcomers pretty bad in comparison. Of the latter group, the only one I know is Candy Lo, and though I love her song "Rubbish," I don't think she's a particularly good actress. Not yet anyway. Neither is the cute young guy of the group, who mainly stands out because his name is inexplicably "Spirit Blue." I was wondering if he's a singer or something but no, apparently he's just a cute amateur actor with an odd stage name.

I watched this movie a long time ago and I thought that it was...... hilarious? Original? I don't know... I cannot describe this film. I can only say that I could not stop laughing when I watched it, especially the bit when 'Gau Suk' was in the pub and was trying to escape... the pseudo-urgency and the fake emotional input from the actors was... not original but hilarious and refreshing... I thought that the film was a thrilling ride of fun, yet apart from its hilarity it had a moral dimension that examined the morality of infidelity... with good humour.9/10 CYP

Combine the HK triad genre with 4 infidel men and what you get is one hell of a mad spoof! Hilarious and refreshing, this film is a cleverly-executed parody of the stereotypical HK gangster movie. Kudos to the creators of coming up with such a novel idea!Having sent their partners on a holiday together, our 4 musketeers set out to carry out the ultimate mission to cheat on their other halves for that one day. The fact that they're doing it in honour of their 'ninth uncle' (Tony 'The Lover' Leung as the 'big brother', who sacrificed himself to protect these 4 men from being 'caught', and is now being cruelly imprisoned in his home with no access to porn and women) after 5 long years of planning makes the story all the more absurdly amusing!Seeing Eric Tsang and Jordan Chan spoofing the triad boss roles that they are so familiar with really is great fun. Add the always stupid looking Chapman To into the picture and you really have a barrel of ready laughs. Of course, not forgetting to mention the cast of women led by veteran comedy actress Teresa Mo and a very crude Candy Lo (what a blast!), all taking part in a surprisingly thrilling cat-and-mouse chase with the hapless men. An enjoyable film that is well supported by a unique story, a competent cast (watch out for those cameos!) and a thoughtful closure.

It will be difficult for anyone not steeped in Hong Kong culture to make much of this film.The film takes on the shell of a Hong Kong gangster film, specifically Infernal Affairs, and inject it with a completely different subject, infidelity of a kind commonly found in Hong Kong men. One needs to have seen Infernal Affairs to truly appreciate the in-jokes, and to know the recent history of Hong Kong to get many of the local jokes.Granted, there is not much substance to the film in terms of making you think. But it is still a piece of Hong Kong comedy so skillfully woven together, with so many cameo(es), that you can not but laugh yourself silly all the way through.