China's top domestic grosser and part of FOCUS: First Cuts film series. Like Love Story, Rain Dogs, Shoe Fairy etc..
I think this is the funniest yet in the series and possibly one of the best movies this year. Mainland China has never looked so happening.
Review:
A trio of inept grifters, an accomplished but unlucky cat burglar and a lustful louse of a photographer unwittingly find themselves tangled together in a messy heist for a precious jade pendant, discovered at the grounds of a floundering factory on the verge of being torn down. The only man standing in their way is a jaded (and constipated) ex-detective, Bao Shihong (Guo Tao) who moonlights as a security guard, dedicated to protect the pendant.
With the comic subtlety of a Stephen Chow effort and the frenzied pace of a psychedelic monkey, Ning Hao’s direction oozes reckless exuberance and is distinguished by a sharp visual intuitiveness and canny knack for accentuating physical comedy in his performers. In his latest film, “Crazy Stone”, Ning Hao brings the focus to mainland China - set in Chongqing, a bustling city with an effervescent and distinctive population. It’s a welcome change of pace from his austere and halcyonian “Mongolian Ping Pong”, which rigorously strayed away from highfalutin’ city living.
A high concept crime comedy, it’s chock-full of the requisite black comedy, violence and accidental mayhem that audiences have come to expect from caper-genre gems such as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch” and “Pulp Fiction”. Relying heavily on complexities, coincidences, and confluences, it brings together disparate groups of characters with shared ambitions and builds a disjointed narrative that constantly revolves around a singular catalyst...........
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