Running Out of Time

If you were given less than four weeks to live with the chance you could drop dead at any second, what would you do with the time you have left?  I'd like to think I would do the things in life I've always wanted to, experience them before it was too late.  In some cases, you could even right the wrongs from your past.  Apply that idea to a movie, and you've got a formula that's been used countless times before and will most likely be used many more times in the future.  I don't know many that were better than 1999's Running Out of Time.

It had been over a month since I reviewed a Hong Kong action flick so here goes. I first saw a Johnnie To-directed movie starting with The Mission and continuing into quasi-sequel Exiled, loving both movies. From the director's chair, he's able to make these stylishly minimalistic action movies that channel directors from different decades and countries.  The cynicism, the fatalism would make French director Jean-Pierre Melville proud, and the violence and code among men would put a smile on American director Sam Peckinpah's face.  But more than just channeling what came before him, To always puts his own spin on his movies, making them his own.

Given just four weeks to live by his doctor, Peter Cheung (Andy Lau) decides to go out with a bang. He goes about robbing a finance company in Hong Kong, pulling off an elaborate heist that doesn't seem the effort he put into it for the results he gained.  Managing to escape a police gridlock, Cheung confronts police investigator and expert negotiator, Inspector Ho (Ching Wan Lau).  The Inspector is fascinated by this highly intelligent crook who seems to revel in keeping him guessing. In a rooftop hostage situation, Cheung defiantly dares Ho to see if he can keep up with him for the next 72 hours at which time everything will figure itself out.  The Inspector isn't quite sure what to make of it, but his curiosity gets the best of him. Just what exactly is this mysterious criminal up to?

Because I did like this movie (a lot), I'm going to get the negatives out of the way early.  They're not specific to this movie either, they were problems I had with both of the previous To movies I'd seen.  These clearly aren't movies made with the biggest of budgets which I'm cool with.  There are these little elements which drive me nuts though, flaws in logic that are needed to keep the story moving for the sake of moving it along. They don't always serve any other purpose.  We're at Point A and need to get to Point B. Let's do it!  There's also an odd reliance on some bizarre disguises Lau's Cheung uses that made me think of John Woo's Mission Impossible II at its worst, and some odd situations with "comedic value" as To regular Suet Lam being a clueless and possibly retarded henchman. Little things that don't derail the movie by any means, but they are annoying nonetheless.

On to the positives, and there's plenty.  In a few recent reviews, I've mentioned the idea of the doomed, tragic character.  Judging by personal background and character make-up, you know from the start there is no way they survive the movie.  Improving on that idea, Lau's Cheung also knows this and doesn't give a damn.  The plot isn't as simple as its made out above with some familial revenge on his mind involving his deceased father and an epically big diamond.  There is something oddly appealing who knows he is going to die and decides to live it up. He's got a plan in place with an end result in mind (and let's face it, the movie's going to get him to that point), but he doesn't care if something happens to him in the process.  Lau does a great job with this doomed character, and to To's credit, he doesn't pull a fast one in the end about his main character.

So there's Melville's cynicism about the main character's life expectancy, now on to Peckinpah's principles of male bonding through similarities regardless of profession, in this case a master criminal and the cop pursuing him.  Cheung is playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Ho, manipulating him to do what he wants, hoping he pursues him until he gets to the point he needs him to be at.  Across lines of law and right and wrong, these two men are not so different. Cheung never endangers anyone that doesn't deserve it, and for that reason Ho gives him a little string to play with.  The two characters have some great scenes together, simple dialogue exchanges that play up To's idea of a code of honor among men regardless of your profession. Cheung respects Ho's ability and talent, Ho similarly fascinated by what this criminal is able to do. It's a simple, not completely unique premise that carries the movie mostly because Lau and Wan Lau are so good in their respective parts.

Not as action-packed as the other To movies I've seen, there is still enough action to appease most fans.  What surprised me most was the quieter, more intimate moments.  Much of that can be chalked up to Ying-Wah Wong's musical score, an oddly appropriate combination of Celtic, African and techno themes that somehow end up working together. Listen HERE for three main samples of the score, the second one being the best starting at about the 3:00 minute mark. A few quick, subtle scenes with Lau and a young woman (YoYo Mung) he meets are hauntingly beautiful, To's camerawork and the musical scoring working seamlessly together. The ending is even better, pulling a smile on your face when you hear what one main character does without us ever seeing it. Another Johnnie To movie I can heartily recommend.

Running Out of Time <---trailer (1999): *** 1/2 /****