The Drummer
2007; directed by Kenneth Bi

Though it is undeniably a gorgeous movie to look at that also features some solid musical performances, Kenneth Bi's 2007 release The Drummer falls prey to one of the biggest dangers facing potential viewers: it's just too damn boring. After spending almost two hours with a film, one might expect some sort of payoff at the end. Alas, all we end up with here is another Hong Kong production with a good idea, but sub-par execution.

The Drummer features Jaycee Chan as Sid, the ne'er-do-well rock-n-roll drummer son of a Triad boss (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). After Sid sleeps with the girlfriend of a rival boss (Kenneth Tsang), his father sends him along with a bodyguard (Roy Cheung) to hide out in Taiwan. While there, Sid meets up with a group called the Zen Drummers, and eventually falls in love with one of its' members, Dou (Angelica Lee). After some initial trouble, Sid becomes one of the most talented performers in the group. But an upcoming tour, which includes a stop in Hong Kong, threatens to de-rail his new path in life before it gets a chance to begin.

Most readers out there will probably know already that Jaycee Chan is indeed the son of Jackie Chan. His first few roles showed some mis-steps, mostly due to Jaycee being pigeon-holed into roles more suited for a younger version of his dad. But over the past couple of years, film-makers using Jaycee have wisely de-emphasized the action quotient in his movies, instead concentrating on his acting skill, which is surprisingly good for how young he is. Sure, no one's going to throw Jaycee an Oscar anytime soon, but at the least, he isn't totally embarrassing himself or the Chan family name -- instead perhaps leaving that up to good old pops, who is currently basking in the glow of a cinematic bomb of the highest caliber with The Spy Next Door.

Sporting strong acting and lovely cinematography, we could have had a winner on our hands here with The Drummer. Sadly, though, all we're treated to is one huge mess. The Triad and drumming portions of this movie simply don't mix well at all. It's almost if Kenneth Bi pulled a Godfrey Ho and mashed up two different films together. Even if the two worlds were meshed together effectively, the inane and incomprehensible ending leaves such a bad taste in the viewer's mouth that it nearly counter-acts any good the production accomplished. One might excuse things a bit seeing as Kenneth Bi was a fairly inexperienced director at this point in his career, but good will can only go so far to making a movie into something truly worth watching.

RATING: 4