Rating of
2.5/4
"God Of Gamblers" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/15/12
A gambler with almost supernatural ability suffers head trauma and amnesia so two petty hustlers take him in and try to find a way to profit from his gift. Another film made by Chow Yun Fat at his most handsome and debonair, easily the best parts of the film are when he is in command of his powers and he has a real presence and charisma about him. Unfortunately, Wong Jing's usual penchant for pandering to the cheap seats has him acting like a retarded child for most of the film, in a kind of Jackie Chan style homage to Rain Man. There are some laughs to be had, but this section is far too long and I found myself longing for Chow to regain his memory again and kick some gangster ass; when he does, it works pretty well but it is sooooo long in coming. God Of Gamblers has a few very nice sequences, but the direction is inconsistent, lumbering between cheap laughs and sentimentality for too much of its run time. It has dated better than some of its contemporaries and its worth seeing for the good bits, but there's too much sap and not enough action.
