| Despite his apprentice under the late Chang Cheh and martial arts movies under his belt such as Hand Of Death and The Dragon Tamers, John Woo's trademark voice on the Hong Kong cinema scene was far off in 1977. Instead for several years, John Woo dabbled in comedy collaborations with Ricky Hui, starting with Money Crazy. Slow pace dominate from the start and the style of comedy, while universal, is often the pratfall accompanied by silly sound effect-kind, leading only to mild amusement. Ricky Hui is strangely distant which can be due to this not being a vehicle together with his brothers Michael and Sam but Richard Ng pretty much is responsible for any laughs in Money Crazy. Still, there's only a chuckle and a half to be found in Woo's film and even the inclusion of crude gunplay doesn't spark much interest. If you want to follow the man who gave us A Better Tomorrow and The Killer from the beginning, by all means do but you won't get much of an experience out of it. Turn to the Hui Brother's if you want the premium comedy of the 70s instead. Sam Hui sings the theme song together with Ricky though, the best aspect of the film. Law Lan, Lee Hoi San, Cheung Ying, Mars, Lam Ching Ying and Billy Chan also appear. |
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