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Naked AmbitionYear of release: 2003 Genre: drama Directors: Dante Lam, Chan Hing Kai Writer: Chan Hing Kai Stars: Louis Koo, Eason Chan, Josie Ho, Cherrie Yin, Niki Chow, Bey Logan, Danny Lee Rated III for nudity, sexual content and language Version reviewed: Panorama VCD |
You might think a story about the rise of Hong Kong's biggest porn producer would be at least a little smutty. But since most most mainstream Hong Kong movies have as much sex displayed as your average episode of Melrose Place or any other US primetime soap opera, Naked Ambition comes off feeling a bit (pardon the expression) limp. It starts out nicely, but nosedives during the second half into near-melodramatics, which kills a lot of the momentum.
The film has Louis Koo as Hong Kong's king of porn relating his story to a reporter played by Bey Logan. After being fired from his "legitimate" magazine job, Koo (along with his buddy Eason Chan) decides to publish a sort of tourist's guide to hookers in HK. Though things are rough at first, their magazine soon becomes the top seller in HK, thanks to cover girls like Tess Tickle (played by usual tough-girl Josie Ho in a nice role reversal), who specializes in the "hot and cold" technique of oral pleasure. Both Louis and Eason soon begin falling for some of the girls they are writing about, which leads to trouble with both their girlfriends and between themselves, especially after a hard-nosed cop (Danny Lee, in his one millionth stint as an officer in a film) begins cracking down on the local sex trade.
As I said before, Naked Ambition is really good for the first half of its' running time. The characters are interesting, there's some nice comedy and the directing is tight. However, the directors seemed too intent on driving the film's message (having everything is nothing without having true friends) home, and stretch out and exaggerate things way too much in the second half. There's nothing horrible happening here, but things could have definitely been tightened up a bit.
It would have also been nice to see a bit more actual T&A -- this is a Cat III movie about porn, after all. There are a few sex scenes, but they're pretty sedate; in one of them, the actors are fully clothed. I can understand that the film-makers may have not wanted to make what might be considered a porno film themselves -- but it would have been nice to see a little more "production value". Still, Koo and Chan do make a pair of likeable leads, and that (along with good performances from most of the supporting cast as well) is what ultimately makes Naked Ambition a film worth your time.
RATING: 6
