MR. NICE GUY A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1998 David N. Butterworth
** (out of ****)
Jackie Chan does it all, often writing, directing, and starring in his own films. And, of course, the diminutive Hong Kong action star, who's half cuddly koala bear, half springbok, does all of his own gravity-defying stunts, risking life and limb in the process.
With "Mr. Nice Guy," Chan's latest outing repackaged for the American market, the likable action hero should have had the opportunity to demonstrate some culinary arts along with the requisite martial variety, since Chan plays a TV chef (kind of like "Yan Can Cook" for the high-kicking set). Unfortunately, apart from the opening credits sequence, Chan doesn't cook a thing.
Plots are generally inconsequential in Jackie Chan movies but this one plays like a pilot George and Jerry could have dreamed up to pitch to NBC (Chan forced to play a TV chef by an unsympathetic judge?). Given that Chan doesn't come anywhere close to a saucepan, or a stove, his occupation here is moot. The *idea* of Chan playing a TV chef is actually funnier than the movie itself. As for the film's "translated" title, the TV reporter that Chan "rescues" early in the film thanks him and calls him a really nice guy. It probably wouldn't have taken a whole lot of effort to have come up with something a little more creative.
The film is set in Melbourne and I can only think of two reasons why that is: 1) filming in Melbourne is cheaper than filming in Hong Kong, and 2) all those Australian accents would have seemed peculiar otherwise.
There are two sets of bad guys in the movie, one called The Demons (snarling, accented dudes in mod clothing who look like rejects from a Dark Bros. porno video) and the other a gaggle of suit-and-tied mobsters led by a nefarious drug lord (Richard Norton) known simply as Giancarlo--ooh, scary! Neither appear to have watched any Al Pacino movies, as the drug deal they're involved in early in the picture turns sour (ever see a drug deal on film that didn't?). Weapons are drawn, money is scattered, cocaine is spilled. Filming all this in an attempt to get a TV exclusive is reporter Diana (played by Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), who runs into Chan and the chase is on.
The chase in question lasts about twenty minutes during which Jackie--as he's called in pretty much all his imports--throws a kick and a punch or two (make that closer to a hundred), and even tries to explain he doesn't even know this woman, but the hoods aren't buying it. Diana settles down to watch the tape...in her underwear!...and realizes it got switched somewhere back there, and the chase is on again. Attempts to retrieve said incriminating videotape by both parties prove to be the central "plot" of "Mr. Nice Guy."
The film's climax involves Chan commandeering a monstrous earthmover and razing Giancarlo's obsessively-clean luxury mansion. Glass, concrete, and wooden structures burst into flames at the slightest of touches.
Jackie Chan's films are equal parts silly, cute, and exhilarating. Chan himself is at his best when interacting with props--there's a contrived but effective sequence on a construction site with a lot of architecturally-suspect blue doors--or putting himself in physical danger (watch out for that buzzsaw!). Obstacles are irrelevant to Chan; he scales them, avoids them, engages them, all with consummate ease.
But his latest movie, although not without its flourishes, tends to concentrate on the cute and silly stuff, leaving even the most diehard Jackie fans screaming "no more Mr. Nice Guy!"
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu
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