Think
of this crusading teacher movie as “To Sir, with Kung Fu.” Imagine what LuLu’s
title tune could have been with lyrics like that. In fact, Henry Chen will even
inspire a student with Cantopop dreams. The Hong Kong born-and-raised former
U.S. Marine quickly wins over his class of under-achievers, but they will have
to pass the HK university admittance exam for themselves in Kam Ka-wai’s Big Brother (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Chen
was a real trouble maker when he attended Tak Chi Secondary School, but he
still distinguished himself as the class Tai Kwon Do champion. He continued to
sharpen his marital arts skills while serving as a Marine, gaining self-discipline
in the process. However, he needed a new direction after a particularly rough Middle
East deployment, so here he is, teaching at his alma mater. At first, his five
hardest cases think they can prank Chen, but that misconception lasts about ten
seconds. Yet, Chen surprises everybody, by really digging into their troubled
circumstances.
A
few parent-teacher conferences later and Chen has his class in the best
emotional state of their young lives. However, trouble is brewing from
developers who covet Tak Chi’s real estate. Naturally, Chen will find himself under
fire from the HK educational bureaucracy, like Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver, and in real life, but
Henry Chen is not about to slink off after a few “Oh Captain, My Captains,” as
if this were a HK Dead Poets Society.
He’s played by Donnie Yen, after all.
Yen
can light up the screen with his energy and charisma, but it is also really obvious
when he is not feeling it. However, in this case we can see he is really
digging the change of pace. There are two really dynamite extended fight scenes
in Big Brother, but for the most
part, this is a pretty straight teacher-who-makes-a-difference movie. Granted, Chan
Tai-lee’s screenplay follows a well-established formula, but the sunny vibe and
Yen’s charm make it all quite enjoyable. Of course, when Yen throws down, he
throws the heck down.
Plus,
the supporting ensemble is ridiculously attractive. Model-turned actress Gladys
Li is obviously going to be a star judging from her scene-stealing work as
tomboy Gladys Wang. Gordon Lau also supplies a strong rooting interest as
second-generation Pakistani immigrant and aspiring Cantopop singer Gordon
Xiang. On the grown-up side, Taiwanese actress Joe Chen develops some nice chemistry
with Yen as his reserved (but interested) colleague, Ms. Liang.
Kam
keeps everything moving along quite spritely. He also happens to be a rather
encouraging case of a plugger who made good. After decades of A.D. work,
including on the first two Ip Man films,
Kam has now directed four big, commercial films in just three years, including
the entertainingly old school Colour of the Game. In this case, he manages to balance the action and high school
drama to satisfy Yen’s followers and those attracted by the youthful supporting
players. Recommended with dopey affection for fans of Yen and HK cinema, Big Brother opens this Friday (8/31) in
New York, at the AMC Empire.
