In The Lap Of God (HK 1991)

Rating: **
Review Date: 1/4/13
Cast: Roy Cheung, Irene Wan

"The whole thing started on that awful day when I met that creep!"

A tiresome action/comedy/romance concerning a ransom and some stolen diamonds. Petty gangster Roy Cheung has his underlings steal some diamonds from a girl who happens to be a triad leader's mistress. The boss gives Roy three days to recover the diamonds, or else he'll murder Roy's associates. Meanwhile, the diamonds accidentally end up in May's (Irene Wan) purse, and it just so happens that she needs $200,000 to redeem her boyfriend who is being held prisoner in Burma for smuggling. So she runs off to Rangoon with Roy in hot pursuit. Most of it is goofy cat-and-mouse play as the two try to outwit each other, but circumstances eventually bring them together and they fall in love. And all of this in the midst of a revolutionary war that's ravaging the countryside.

I've never been a fan of Roy Cheung, but he manages to hold his own pretty well as a lead. However, it's Irene Wan who sells the film, and she is simply ravishing throughout. She always happens to have a really sexy outfit and is impeccably put together regardless of the occasion, and at one point a crocodile conveniently rips off her skirt. The typical "whiny little Hong Kong bitch" routine wears a little thin after a while, but she plays it well and is consistently delightful to watch. The action is average, and Roy dishes out a respectable amount of punishment. May gets in on the action as well, but mostly as an ineffective comedic foil. There are some fun chase scenes, and some bizarre censoring clouds that obscure a bunch of naked native women bathing in a river. Very odd and distracting. While it's not the film I was expecting it to be, it's still marginally entertaining and satisfies a Hong Kong B-movie craving.

Memorable subtitled euphemism: "Airplanes are shot down like this (meaning masturbation)."