Produced by Andy Lau and directed by Lian Hao, the 2006 caper comedy Crazy Stone was a phenomenal success in Mainland China, making box-office gold out of wonderful word of mouth. Critics recognized Ning's storytelling talent and hailed the young director "China's Guy Ritchie". In 2009, Lian Hao returns with a funnier follow-up Crazy Racer (a.k.a. Silver Medalist). This time, it premieres in the lucrative Chinese New Year frame, and the box-office gross is on course to give Lian membership in the elite 100-million-directors club.
Crazy Racer retains some of the cast members of Crazy Stone, but the story is not related to the predecessor. Racer's multiple plot lines center on racing cyclist Geng Hao, who is unlucky to lose the gold medal in a race by a mere 0.01 second. He's banned from racing again, so he has to settle for a lousy job as a seafood deliveryman. Five years later, Geng Hao is still not out of the bad patch, as he inadvertently gets himself sucked into a web of criminal complications, finding cops, crooks, and even a corpse hot on his tail! |