She Said—He Said: Dueling Film Critics Review: "The Drummer"
Monday, December 7, 2009 at 08:26PM 
Models. Photos.comShe Said: ********* 9 out of 10
He Said: ******** 8 out of 10
Highlight: Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival for World Cinema
SHE SAID HIGHLIGHT: Once you get past the ganster elements and the nasty father with the sniffing nose, this is a fantastic movie with a lot of heart, a Zen heart, and some increadible plot twists that make it a must see.
HE SAID HIGHLIGHT: Anything with drums, I’m all for, and at first I was prepared to not like this film, if only because it comes on strong as a quasi-ganster flick, then evolves almost overnight into a “coming of age” story. But that’s the power of this movie. The mix of incongruent elements makes this a near masterpiece, with just enough action to keep me engaged, just enough frustrated love affair to keep it real, and characters who you really are in “percussion” beat with.
SHE SAID REVIEW: This movie has real heart and soul, in keepilng with the drums and music. I’m in awe of this achievement: blending a great story, with amazing feats of drumming and just enough action to keep my hubby entertained.
TRAILER:
The Drummer is the quintessential Hong Kong movie triumph, and its nice to see Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee really finding his acting soul here. He’s in a lot of films from Hong Kong this last year and has covered every genre from action to artsy drama (Where the Sun Rises). Here, he’s beyond charming, he feels real in the role, playing the character with just enough selfishness to make you “hate” him in the beginning, and so much wonderful character growth by the end you’re practically standing up and cheering out loud.
In the beginning he’s a spoiled rich kid of a ruthless gangster—he claims he hates—who plays the drums and sleeps around. When he sleeps with his a rival ganster’s mistress, he’s exiled to gorgeous Taiwan to avoid losing his hands to gang justice. There, he meets an almost too-good group of wonderful zen drummers and spends a year trying to convince them to teach him their art. After being evicted once, he finally returns a new man and finds himself. The underlying and understated “love affair” with another group member is just right.
Tony Leung is astounding as the ganster father. At first the famed actor plays the role almost “over the top” to make sure we hate him enough, but with masterful acting subtlety we immediately realize he actually cares about the son he exiles. The scene where they reconcile is touching and tragic.
There’s nothign not to like here, and I highly recommend this to all. It’s not for all ages due to some ganster violence and sex, but it is for all types of movie fans.
HE SAID: Honestly, I wanted to hate this film; in the end I loved it. At first I thought it was a movie in search of an audience. Somehow, it felt like it wanted to be violent ganster film, love story and “coming of age” story all at once. Then, you realize, as the threads weave, that was what Kenneth Bi (director and writer) intended. It’s actually pure genius. Two utterly simple, “been done before” story lines weave together and become uniquely fantastic.
The only drawback to the story structure might be heavy focus on Hong Kong gangs at the beginning; I could almost imagine the occassional disconcerted movie-goer who might not make it through the first couple ganster-rich scenes. When Tony Leung starts sniffing breasts and goes boar hunting, then searches all over Hong Kong for his rebellious son Sid (played by Jaycee Chan), you don’t know whether to take him as serious or not. Then, suddenly, you’re there, believing it.
What’s starts off feeling cliché—ganster violence, rebellious son, etc—ends up being masterful, with just enough irony to carry off the otherwise dramatic film.
The real star of this movie, though, is the drums, and it won best original score and sound in the Hong Kong Film Awards as a result. I couldn’t get enough of those drum scenes. When Sid finds the group, and then begs to be let into the Zen drumming commune, it almost feels like a young-apprentice-finds-kung-fu-master concept, complete with him being given all the dirty chores and learning anything bu the drums. As he finally proves himself, though, it feels real and you like the guy.
Awards: Golden Horse Award for Tony Leung Ka Fai, Hong Kong Film Award for Best score and sound design, Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival for World Cinema
Run time: 118 minutes
Director: Kenneth Bi
Writer: Kenneth Bi
Cast: Tony Leung Ka Fai (Kwan), Jaycee Chan (Sid), Angelica Lee (Hong Dou), Roy; Cheung (Ah Chiu), Josie Ho (Sina), Kenneth Tsang (Stephen Ma)
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