2001/2006

This lightweight seriocomic crime story from the Pang Brothers was released a year before their international success with "The Eye." In it, a low-rent drug dealer named Bank (Pawarith Monkolpisit) meets a young hooker named Som (Wanatchada Siwapornchai) on the streets of Bangkok. They fall in love and he recruits her to help with a drug deal. The first time, all goes well and they walk away with more money than they've ever had before. The second time, when the stakes are increased ... well, it's not like you haven't seen this story before.
 
Oxide Pang Chun directs and edits with the kind of flash we've grown accustomed to via the films of Tony Scott, which works as a distancing device that keeps us from fully committing emotionally to Bank and Som. To overcome that lack of empathy, the story would have to be a lot stronger than it is. As it is, the film is entertaining without being memorable.
 
The disc contains trailers from other recent Tartan Video Asia Extreme releases, and a short behind-the-scenes doc on the making of Pang's more recent "Ab-Normal Beauty."
Recommended for fans of current Asian cinema only. 

"?Doug Bentin

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