Bet to Basic

Year:2006

Jordan Chan
Director:Paul Chung Sing-Yuen
Cast:Jordan Chan Siu-Chun, Yuen Wah, Rain Li Choi-Wah, Eric Kot Man-Fai, Chin Kar-Lok, Samuel Pang King-Chi, Tommy Yuen Man-On, Viann Leung Wai-Ka, Emily Kwan Bo-Wai, Liu Fan, Charlie Cho Cha-Lei, Lee Kin-Yan, James Ha Chim-Si
Description:
The
lack of mahjong movies getting you down? Then Bet
to Basic may be for you. Nostalgia seekers might
enjoy this cheap, Wong Jing-less gambling comedy,
as it channels the old-time charm of Hong Kong gambling
films better than, say, the Kung Fu Mahjong
movies. That doesn't mean the movie is necessarily
good, however. Jordan Chan is Lloyd, a dopey gambling
savant who possesses the uncanny ability to always
draw a winning, though usually wimpy hand in mahjong.
You see, there are numerous ways to win in mahjong,
usually involving consistent suits or special combinations,
but a person can still win with a hodgepodge of mismatched
tiles. The ability to come up with the latter is Lloyd's
ability, which makes him a minor terror on the mahjong
circuit. End mahjong lesson.
Cousin Flying Dragon enlists Lloyd to help win in gambling dens,
but the duo is soon drawn into a gambling rivalry
straight out of those sixties Shaw Brothers gambling
films. Mahjong master Scott is looking
to take down his longtime rival Yuen , and
enlists the aid of his apprentice Morpheus . Meanwhile, Yuen has
his own apprentice, Peggy , who joins her
master for a face-off during a cheap-looking King
of Mahjong competition. Lloyd and Flying Dragon are
initially just witnesses, but back-stabbing and sudden
twists of fortune tear everything apart. Flying Dragon
gets beaten up, and soon Yuen is asking for Lloyd's
help to take down Morpheus in a final King of Mahjong
competition. That this new King of Mahjong competition
seems to be the second one in less than 2 months is
irrelevant; Lloyd begins training to be a true mahjong
master. Sadly, he seems to have lost his ability to
draw winning hands. Can he get it back in time for
the big face off?
I'll give away the ending:
he does, and the good guys win! Unfortunately, Bet
to Basic is directed in such an uninteresting
manner that you may not care who wins. The film possesses
the tools to be a fun retro-HK Cinema experience,
but director Paul Chung and company only capture part
of the fun, and absolutely none of the energy of Wong
Jing's early-nineties classics. The setup is there;
Bet to Basic comes complete with a betrayals
and loaded mahjong face-offs, and even has amusing
training sequences
and a wacky musical number set to a Sam Hui oldie,
with Yuen Wah and Eric Kot in obnoxious afro wigs.
But the energy is gone. The musical number features
limp choreography and boring montage, and the rest
of the film's drama is handled in an equally mind-numbing
manner. The sets and cinematography are noticeably
cheap, and many of the jokes are simply not that funny.
Bet to Basic also has no action. Hell, just
thinking about the movie puts me to sleep.
There are some positives.
Yuen Wah and Eric Kot make surprisingly effective
mahjong masters, and Jordan Chan is likable and dopey,
though even he struggles during the film's many lackluster
jokes. A couple of movie parodies do enliven things,
especially an Election parody that lampoons
the climactic fishing sequence. Other parodies don't
fare so well, including not one, but three Kung
Fu Hustle jokes that might have been funny if
the film had been made last year. Sadly it wasn't,
though even a 2005 release date wouldn't make Bet
to Basic anything more than the footnote that
it is. It's sad, because at times the film does seem
to recall the early nineties classics, most obviously
the God of Gamblers movies. Those similarities
could cause some viewers to be more charitable towards
the film, though they should remember that the God
of Gamblers look and feel also created plenty
of cinematic failures. Among the stinkers best forgotten
include Always Be the Winners and Saint
of Gamblers, plus many other films not starring
Chow Yun-Fat, Stephen Chow, Andy Lau, or even Nick
Cheung. If anything can be learned from Bet to
Basic, it's simply that they should try harder,
and perhaps more often. Getting Wong Jing back may
not be a bad idea either.