LOST IN HONG KONG (GANG JIONG)

(director/writer: Zheng Xu; screenwriter: Shu Huan; cinematographer: Xiaofei Song; editor: Tu Yi-Ran; cast: Zheng Xu (Xu Lai), Du Juan (Yang Yi), Vicki Zhao (Cai Bo), Bao (Cai Lala), Sam Lee (Policeman), Eric Cot (Policeman), Wong Jing (Himself), Tin Kai-Man (Stephen Hawking); Runtime: 114; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Zheng Xu; Well Go USA Entertainment; 2015-Hong Kong-in Mandarin with English subtitles)
“Sappy crowd pleasing Hong Kong comedy.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Sappy crowd pleasing Hong Kong comedy that doesn’t transfer well to American cinema, and is as bad as it is unfunny (which may be a cultural thing). Director, star and co-writer Zheng Xu(“Lost in Thailand”) does everything to try and please the viewer. It follows “Lost on Journey” and 2012’s “Lost in Thailand.” They were top-grossing blockbusters in China.

Xu Lai (Zheng Xu), once an aspiring artist, is now a henpecked brassiere designer facing a mid-life crisis. His wife Cai Bo (Vicki Zhao) is overbearing and grating, demanding he give her children. They are on a family vacation in Hong Kong. While there Xu Lai plans to secretly reunite with his mainland college sweetheart, Yang Yi (Du Juan), who left him while in school. She’s a noted artist who is in Hong Kong to open her art show. But Xu Lai’s plans are thwarted by his brother-in-law Cai Lala (Bao), an aspiring documentary filmmaker determined to use him as his subject and therefore follows him everywhere.

On the last day of his holiday, the stressed out Xu Lai gets involved in a series of misadventures that include crashing a Wong Jing movie set, getting into a brothel and some crazy situations with his wife. Meanwhile, Lala had unwittingly taped a murder of someone being thrown off a building. When the police learn of this tape, the couple become murder suspects.

The film is set during one long day. It features cameos from stars in Hong Kong films, in-jokes, lots of songs and homages to other Hong Kong films.

REVIEWED ON 3/17/2016 GRADE: C+