My Review of "King of Comedy (1999)"

King of Comedy (1999) is a Hong Kong comedy that stars the infamous Stephen Chow. I grew up watching this sort of stuff in the past so a lot of the antics don't really phase me. As a westerner watching in I can see how problematic a lot of the scenes can be. That's why I'm a little divided in this review.

The movie starts off as many of Stephen Chow movies. Our hero Tin-sau is a country bumpkin trying to realize his dreams. In this case Tin-sau wants to become a famous actor. This guy will go to all lengths to become a world famous actor but he can't seem to catch a break. It's not like he doesn't study either. He's there to study and learn but no one will give him the time.

To be fair he is a bit too much. He will go over expectations of him and really ham it up and so people don't really take him seriously. There are a few hilarious and fun scenes in this first portion of the movie. You'll even have Jackie Chan cameo to be a stuntman. All of it is in good fun and you can tell the movie is letting the audience in on the joke.

Down and out Tin-sau tries to continue to pursue his dream anyway he can. That means he has to find alternatives to make money. To do this he implements his superior acting acumen to teach the members of the ghetto where he lives to become actors. I know that sounds pretty ridiculous but they kind of make it work here.

You see the ghetto that he lives in has gangsters and prostitutes that are terrible at their job. The problem with their work is that they don't know how to get into character. Tin-sau helps each of them out in learning the character that they need to be in order to fulfill their job requirements.

Everyone is of course apprehensive of the idea. That is of course until they realize his acting tactics actually work! They soon gain confidence in him and in turn builds up his own confidence in being the world famous actor he wishes to be.

Most of the story and fun comes with the guidance of Tin-sau to the rest of the characters. Everyone has a sense of naivety and innocence to them that makes them all endearing. There are sudden darker scenes but that's to build up the dramatic romantic build up of the relationship of Tin-sau and his love interest.

Like many Stephen Chow movies a lot of the scenarios come out of nowhere sometimes. All of a sudden there's a quick sudden change to the situation that makes no sense at all. It's all to build on the joke or drama that's involved in the movie.

I won't like there are certain scenes that will make western audiences uncomfortable. Some jokes might not translate well to a western culture and they're sprinkled throughout the movie. Still that doesn't take away from the whole enjoyment of the movie but just beware of certain scenes.

I still think that everyone can find this movie hilarious because of the sheer absurdity and ludicrous of this movie. They go to places that you don't think they're going to go. They also go to places we think they will go. If you've seen his movies you kind of know what type of humor will be involved.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie warts and all. To me it was a trip down memory lane but also an eye opener. I didn't realize how many problematic scenes were in this movie. Still I guess I'm a bad person because I still laughed through some of those messed up scenes. That's why I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. I can only recommend this to certain people. Others might judge me for recommending it to them.