Protégé 2007

Director: Derek Yee Tung-Sing

Producer: Peter Chan Ho-Sun

Writer: Derek Yee Tung-Sing

Cast: Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Anita Yuen Wing-Yee, Zhang Jingchu, Derek Yee Tung-Sing, Liu Kai-Chi

The Skinny: Don't do drugs, and for God's sake, don't sell them either. Protégé tells a familiar, even hackneyed story in powerful style. The characters could use further development, and the film occasionally loses focus. Still, thanks to director Derek Yee, this is quality Hong Kong Cinema.

Review by Kozo:

Hong Kong Cinema gets a shot in the arm -- both literally and figuratively -- with Protégé, a powerful drug drama directed by Derek Yee, who was last seen slumming with the routine romantic comedy Drink-Drank-Drunk. Protégé brings Yee back to his strengths, telling a detailed and thoughtful narrative in riveting, emotional style. The themes in Protégé are nothing new, and how could they be? We live in a global community, and by now everybody has (hopefully) seen Traffic, be it the BBC drama or Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning film. Yee brings a similar tale to Hong Kong, and he does so in a way that creates an immediate emotional response. Protégé prods its audience to feel and react, something that a successful motion picture probably should do. However, Yee doesn't fully develop his screenplay and characters, sometimes letting them suffer behind the grand anti-drug message. Still, it's all -- or at least mostly -- good. Telling us not to do drugs is usually a boring message, but in Protégé that message is most definitely felt.

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