A movie about three childhood friends who have grown up to be professional thieves, and their misadventures when they get mixed up with gangsters who are after a priceless painting. It's probably the most light-hearted John Woo movie I've seen, with at least 90% of its runtime being all-out comedic (even much of the action). That said, I don't think it's his funniest movie, because Face/Off exists.
If IMDb's trivia is correct in saying that this movie premiered only 10 weeks after it started shooting, I can see it. Besides the final 10-15 minutes of action, a lot of it feels a bit slapped together. Even the earlier action, while good, isn't as tight or exciting as most John Woo action scenes manage to be (thinking about a good deal of the car chase at the film's halfway point).
The comedy doesn't always work, but stars Chow Yun-Fat and Leslie Cheung are both very charismatic, and through their talent and collective screen presence, do make some of it work. The romance is a bit strange and underdeveloped, but that's okay- didn't really come to a John Woo movie for that.
A good deal of the action at the end is amazing. A lot of it rides the line between ridiculous and cool perfectly, but eventually, it gets a touch too silly, and it's not the kind of dumb slapstick that works perfectly. I wonder if the comedy in general would have worked better if this has been a Jackie Chan-led movie, but maybe the problem is more with the screenplay and the (alleged) rushed shooting schedule.
So overall: some of it really delivers. Some of it's not great. It's a lesser John Woo movie, but it seems even his not so great movies still have plenty to offer.
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