thinker1691 The writer and director of this film was Dayyan Eng. His story relates the unusual experiences of Li (Daniel Wu) a design engineer at an up and coming industrial firm which makes human prosthetic limbs. He is good at his job, but now comes under tremendous pressure to hurry up and finish his latest design, which seems to have a flaw in it. At the same time, his marriage is falling apart and he seeks desperately to save it. However, he finds life difficult and far too demanding to deal with and decides to commit suicide. However, like everything else in his crumbling situation he is interrupted by Chuck (Kevin Spacey) a very noisy neighbor, who offers to help. Having tried medicinal drugs, Li discovers they create more problems for him and Chuck's advice only turns him into a Superhero. The movie is briefly comical, but it is not sustained. Indeed, with the likes of Kevin Spacey and with character actor (Armagoddon) Peter Stormare this audience member expected much, much more. As it is, Spacey's exceptional talents are wasted and the movie submerges into deep waters where it is relegated to sink on it's own. ***

zootalaws I'm afraid I can't agree with some of the other reviewers on here. I really liked this film - for a number of reasons.It was fast-paced, funny, while highlighting some of the issues facing an increasingly commercialising China. Mental illness, cultural erosion, love, loss, crime - this story has it all.Living in Asia, I watch a lot of movies of various ethnicities - it's nice to see some 'serious' film- making that doesn't have a cast of tens of thousands, a music score with 200 dancers, or based on a folk story from a thousand years ago, etc.The reviewers that derided this film as being derivative are missing the point - as well as being factually incorrect, IMHO - this is a modern, urban tale of an emerging China and as such is almost impossible to compare with something from the West. While the sub-plot of the buddy movie that allows Spacey his role, the more pervasive story line is the modernisation of China.I think a lot of Western audiences, given the opportunity to see this film, will be surprised at the way life is heading in Asia - the old stereotypes are falling daily.The impact this film has had around Asia is indicative of the scarcity of quality home-grown drama. While on a storytelling level this film was a little uneven, what it does is breaks ground for other directors and sets the stage for audiences to expect a level and content of Chinese film-making previously unseen.For years now China has been making technically superior films - beautiful scenery and cinematography, massive sets and casts of thousands along with stunning design and costuming, but nearly always the subject was historical stories or epic fiction.Seeing a new wave of Chinese directors making films for an increasingly cosmopolitan middle-class is heartening as this pushes further the maturation of China as a modern, democratic country. Once you start to see films such as this exposing some of the foibles in society, you know that acceptance is not far behind, and acceptance breeds an egalitarian society.I love visiting the new China and I look forward with relish to Mr Eng's next work.

bobbyxie1984 This movie would be great if it's concepts were original. The script is basically a mash up of several Hollywood concepts/twists which are by the way, very apparent to the viewer. The film felt dragged out a lot of the time.Kevin Spacey does what he does best. He's a well trained actor and it shows in his work. I think Daniel Wu did alright considering who his supporting actor was.There are ways to answer questions clearly and ways to answer them subtly (something the show 'Mad Men' does very well). This movie went for the latter and didn't do a very good job of it. It was confusing in a bad way, especially with how Daniel Wu's wife was portrayed.I will give a kudos to Spacey for stepping into the Chinese market before the rest of Hollywood's actors realize what early exposure there now could do for their global careers in the future.

expansivethinking finally a film that is not some epic warlord/kung fu waste of cash. This story thoughtfully told with humor and wit is a breath of fresh air. This is so much better than flowers of war by Zhang Yi Mou. That film failed to move me at all and left me cold. Amazing because it seems china is favoring stylish fluff over substance, which is Director Eng's film really is unique. Kevin Spacey and Daniel Wu work really well together as a crime fighting duo. Layered with subtleties , the film has the ability to make you laugh and understand that todays china is filled with some major problems for everyday citizens. Here is hoping this will be released stateside for others to be able to watch.