Simply Actors (2007) User Reviews

Stupid storyline, but still adequately entertaining...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 19 August 2018]

When I found "Simply Actors" (aka "Hei wong ji wong") on Netflix I needed no persuasion in order to sit down and watch it. It is an Asian movie, and from the Hong Kong cinema to sweeten the deal, which was more than enough to make me sit down and watch it.

I hadn't heard about the movie prior to watching it, nor did I know who was starring in it.

I must admit that I had a little bit of problem understanding the concept of the movie as it made so very little sense. Why would the police have actors working within their ranks? And the who lack of seriousness to it from the lead character didn't exactly help to make it passable as a realistic movie in any sense.

That being said, don't get me wrong. "Simply Actors" was not a bad movie, nor was it a particularly good movie. It was fairly generic and average, in fact, in terms of Asian cinema go.

What impressed me the most about the movie was the sheer amount of famous Hong Kong actors and actresses that they had managed to get together here for even the smallest of roles. That was just fantastic, and a nice treat for a life-long fan of the Hong Kong cinema such as myself.

"Simply Actors" didn't impress me, but it was watchable, no doubt about it. However, I doubt that this is the type of movie that you will ever watch a second time,

Back to Reality - Review of "Simply Actors"

[kampolam-75813 · 4/10 · 23 January 2023]

Chim Sui-Man, who stepped into the film performance on the stage, was hailed as a master-level acting star by the film industry. Following Karena Lam Kar-Yan's worship of him as her teacher, Charlene Choi Tsoek-Jin also worshipped him and co-starred in the film "Simply Actors" (2007), which rarely talks about acting skills. The film tells the story of Chan Man-Long, a police officer who loves acting, played by Chim Siu-Man. He was sent by his boss to an acting school to learn acting skills. At the school, he met Dani Dan, a porn star played by Charlene Choi, and the two cherished each other. On the other hand, there is an emotional crisis between Chan Man-Long and his long-term girlfriend Judy (played by Michelle Ye Xuan).

Regardless of the film's discussion of acting skills, just from the emotional scenes of Chim Siu-Man, Michelle Ye and Charlene Choi, It's inseparable from screenwriter Chan Hing-Ka's "The Yuppie Fantasia" (1989) style, and it even seems familiar. However, this time he added the element of talking about acting. In one of the scenes, Chan Man-Long, played by Chim Siu-Man, asked Judy, play by Michelle Ye, for a "showdown". Judy gracefully proposed to break up, and Chan Man-Long saw through her acting. Michelle Ye performs two completely different versions at the same time, which is very like Woody Allen, and it's also the most appropriate place to describe the acting skills in the whole film.

Returning to the selling-point of the film - acting, Chim Siu-Man used his academy background to perform his acting skills, and there are many popular version of orthodox college courses. And Chim Siu-Man's performance of an actor without acting skills is reminiscent of "The King of Comedy". In the same way, the two films have to return their acting skills to real life at the end. The expert theatre janitor played by Anthony Wong Chau-Sang took Chan Man-Long to the street to see the reality, the "acting skills" of ordinary people, the interpretation of "Simply Actors" is much clearer than "The King of Comedy", which is also related to the participation of Chim Siu-Man, Anthony Wong and others, which is just a response in the dialogue between Chim Siu-Man and Anthony Wong in the production special, it's mentioned that the theoretical basis cannot be ignored in acting.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

A bale of laughs, and more

[harry_tk_yung · 23 June 2007]

Using a clever plot of a police undercover polishing his "acting skills" in the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Jim CHIM showcases his rich and diversified background in performing arts. In the process, the audience is entertained with some of the funniest moments they encounter on screen. But it is not easy to sustain 120 minutes of comedy. During the rather long middle segment of our hero's "student's life" at the HKAPA, things slow down somewhat, due partly to the lack of driving drama and conflict. However, this segment closes in a high note, with a mysterious, Phantom-like (in spirit only, not in appearance) Anthony WONG Chiu-seng teaching Chim's character how to look for drama in real life, right on the streets.

This is an exceptionally fine comedy from a master comedian who knows what he is doing. Charlene CHOI (the extrovert half of the "Twins"), who in real life did get apprenticed to Chim and became his protégé in acting, passes her first test here. The huge cameo cast, drawn from both the cinema and theatre circles, contributes to making this movie the prime choice in summer festivities.