I’m really missing seeing the crowd reaction to a lot of these. I didn’t expect so many films to end up in my favorites list so late. This one was recommended to me, and now it’s my turn to tell you to go watch it. This is a police investigation, partly conducted by a criminal himself as well as another officer who the department tends to look down on.
A Witness Out Of The Blue was directed by Fung Chih-Chiang. Detective Lam (Louis Cheung) doesn’t get any respect from his his commanding officer Yip Sau Ching (Philip Keung). After a messy jewel heist orchestrated by notorious criminal Sean Wong (Louis Koo) the entire department is building a case against him when his accomplices start appearing dead. This gets complicated when Lam runs into Wong and gets told at gunpoint that Wong is not the murderer. With only Detective Charmaine (Cherry
Ngan) listening to him, Lam has to try to put the pieces together while Wong is making his own moves.
Hong Kong crime thrillers have a certain reputation to uphold, and this one is pretty solid. Lam’s poor reputation almost guarantees him he’s going to have to lone-wolf this one. Louis Cheung plays this character well. On the wrong side of the law is Wong, performed brilliantly by Louis Koo with a rather charismatic and badass streak. The movie also shows to humanize him when he rents a room from quirky landlady Ding (Jessica Hsuan).
Highly recommended as a solid Hong Kong action crime thriller. I wouldn’t have mind if they had added a decent car chase, but the shootouts are well done. Louis Koo’s performance as the anti-hero Wong should have audiences rooting for the criminal at several points. Louis Cheung’s Lam is also very notable in the way he figures things out and manages to catch up, despite not having the department backing him up.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 