I like Derek Lee and I really wanna like this movie. it starts out weird enough, with almost a high school propaganda portrayal of drug abuse, and then a hackneyed summary of drug abuse (you know, the one that goes "people abuse drugs to fill their voids"). Then the movie was followed by almost half an hour of great drama, detailing the main character Nick (played by Daniel Wu) and his interactions with the police, the drug network, and a single junkie mama (who looks more like a heroin model than a junkie mama). It introduces the great Andy Lau as a charismatic and very human drug lord. Then it suddenly switches back to the one-dimensional, almost laughable portrayal of junkies (followed by the worst makeup for a junkie I have ever seen and the worst motivation I've heard in a modern film for dope addiction), followed by a beautiful monologue by Andy Lau, explaining the modern Hong Kong drug chain...etc. This is when you realize that you're watching a schizophrenic movie. It is at heart some kinda simplistic anti-drug propaganda, determined to use any tool necessary to dissuade the innocent viewers of drug use, but at the same time, Derek Yee and the cast and crew seem to be far too intelligent and sophisticated to beat you over the head with the valuable life lesson. In the end we get a half-engaging, half laughably bad film. Derek Yee seems to have done his homework, and he seems to not only understand the world of drug both as a business and as a crime, but also to depict it beautifully and coherently for the average viewer. Unfortunately that understanding does not translate to the other half of the drug trade nor the movie, in which great actors do their best zombie/ drunk impressions in attempts to scare the viewers straight. It really is heartbreaking when something is only half good. It's a shame too, since real junkies live in much more pain and horror than the fake movie ones, and, for better or worse, anyone with any exposure to the streets (in any major city) these days can tell the difference between gritty realism and gritty caricature. Put it this way: if Zhang Jingchu's junkie reacts to withdraw the same way she reacts to a scary kungfu master in "Seven Swords", then it can't be that convincing. The good news is, you can always rent Half Nelson or The Wire, the latter pretty much is the movie The Protégé (and many many other movies and shows about drugs and crime) wants to me.
Review of Protégé
