REVIEW: One More Chance (2023)
Also known as Don't Call Me God Of Gamblers, also known as Be Water My Friend, also known as...
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Three titles! A fourth if you count another title called ‘Salvation’ that was used at one stage. But it has Chow Yun-fat in it, so we can forgive them. Let’s check out what this movie is about:
PLOT
Set in Macau, A man hopelessly addicted to gambling suddenly finds himself looking after a teenage son he didn’t know he had when his ex-girlfriend reappears and asks for a favour. She will pay him $50,000 per month, enough to pay his gambling debts, if he will take care of him.
However, the boy has autism, and he initially has some difficulties in connecting with him until one evening when he runs into trouble with a loan shark, which changes his whole aspect on life and looking after his son.
TALKING POINTS
The movie has a big cast for a Hong Kong film that does not feature Louis Koo’s usual suspects (fun fact: the CGI is done by Koo’s One Cool Pictures studio) – Chow Yun-fat, Anita Yuen, Alex Fong and Andy On – all do a good enough job although Chow Yun-fat overacts. Kudos to Will Or as Yueng who plays the autistic boy. Great job
Problem is the overacting – Chow Yun-fat character is a really horrible person in the first 40 odd minutes of the film. Very unlikeable but as usual in these films he does a 180-character arch and turns likeable after “the moment.”
Movie is standard Hong Kong fair, but with the Chinese influence that gambling is bad – that’s the strong government message here. It doesn’t glorify gambling, meaning it’s not related to other Chow Yun-fat films of similar titles.
This is a family drama with the point being a redemption story – it maybe plays this card too hard. Not subtle at all.
Would this movie still be enjoyable if the cast wasn’t well known?
Also has some super poor CGI effects at the start - with the casino chip (watch the video), and a few more average scenes of CGI at the end.
It’s very saccharine. Not a bad thing, but not a film you can take too seriously.
What are my overall thoughts?
3 stars out of 5. It’s a shame about the overacting and saccharine style, but some enjoyment can be had.
If you’ve seen this movie, what did you think?
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Genre Drama
Director Anthony Pun Yiu-Ming
Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Anita Yuen, Andy On, Alex Fong
Original Title 别叫我“赌神”
Alternative Titles Be Water, My Friend, Salvation, Don't Call Me God of Gamblers
Country of Origin Hong Kong and China
Release Date June 21 2023