action, Albert Leung, Cecilia Choi, Herbert Leung, Hong Kong, Lam Yiu Sing, Max Cheung, movies, Ng Shui Ting, Philip Ng, Rachel Leung, reviews, Stephanie Che, Stephen Tung, Stuntman, Terrance Lau, Terry Zou, Ton Yin Gor
October 15, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Albert Leung and Herbert Leung
Cantonese with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong in the 2000s, the action film “Stuntman” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: After a 20-year hiatus, a stuntman is persuaded to come out of retirement to work on an old friend’s movie as an action choreographer, and he has to come to terms with the guilt he has from mistakes he made in the past.
Culture Audience: “Stuntman” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action flicks that have realistic human drama.
“Stuntman” has a predictable narrative, but this action film has meaningful depictions of how stunt performer work can take a toll on stunt performers’ personal lives. The movie has capable acting that elevate the occasionally trite screenplay. This is a film that doesn’t pretend to be anything that it is not.
Directed by Albert Leung and Herbert Leung, “Stuntman” (which takes place in Hong Kong in the 2000s) was written by Anastasia Tsang and Yip Wai-ping. The movie begins with a scene that takes place sometime in the 1980s, when action director Sam Lee (played by Lam Yiu Sing) miscalculates a stunt that leaves his stuntman friend Kam (played Terry Zou) serously injured. It’s revealed later in the movie that Kam became paralyzed because of this injury and has paraplegia, which requires him to use a wheelchair. Wracked with guilt, Sam lef tthe movie industry shortly after this tragedy.
In the 2000s, middle-aged and divorced Sam (played by Stephen Tung, also known as Tung Wai) is working as a physical therapist. One of his clients is Lee “Long” Sai-long (played by Terrance Lau), who is an aspiring stuntman. Long, who is 29 years old, greatly admires Sam and is a big fan of the movies that Sam directed. Long works at a warehouse, where his job is to move and transport items. Long’s real career goal is to be a stuntman.
Sam is persuaded out of retirement to work on an action movie that is being produced by an old friend/previous filmmaking collaborator named Cho Tin Hang (played by Ton Yin Gor), who is beholden to a major investor named Mr. Mok, who is never seen in the movie. Long quits his job as a warehouse worker to become a stunt coordinator on the movie. Lee Sai Kit (played by Max Cheung), who is Long’s older brother/warehouse co-worker, thinks that Long is making a foolish mistake in wanting to go into the unstable profession of stunt work. The star of the movie is an egotistical actor named Leung Chi Wai (played by Philip Ng), a former stunt coordinator who used to work with Sam years ago. Wai likes to do the opposite of what Sam wants.
Sam has to deal with many problems while making the film, including production budget issues, clashing with Wai, and beng haunted by guilt over what happened to Kam. Sam still keeps in touch with Kam (played by Ng Shui Ting), who seems to have forgiven him, in contrast to Kam’s wife Kuen (played by Stephanie Che), who is still very angry with Sam. One of the most emotional scenes in the movie is when Kuen explodes with rage at Sam when he tries to give money to Kam and Kuen.
In addition, Sam’s estranged daughter Cherry Lee (played by Cecilia Choi), who was about 7 or 8 years old when her parents divorced, is getting married to a nice guy named Martin (played by Lee Kwan Chiu), and has mixed emotions about having Sam at the wedding. Cherry still has a lot of lingering resentment over what Sam being a mostly absentee father because of his work. A flashback scene shows that a breaking point in her parents’ marriage was when Sam chose to work instead of staying with Cherry and her mother Yin (played by Rachel Leung) when Cherry was taken to a hospital for a medical emergency. In the present-day part of the story, Yin is now deceased.
Sam has difficulty changing his workaholic ways. He leaves a wedding rehearsal early to go back to working on the movie. He later tells Cherry that he’s sorry, but she is cold and resentful. Cherry tells Sam how she feels about his habit of choosing to work instead of spending time with her: “I’m used to it. That’s why I never watch your movies.” Cherry doesn’t trust that Sam can be relied on to be at the wedding, so she has asked Martin’s father (played by Chan Wai Tong) to be the one to give her away at the wedding ceremony..
Will Sam redeem himself with Cherry and successfully get the movie completed without anyone getting seriously injured? You haven’t watched enough movies of this type if you don’t know the answer. However, the performances in “Stuntman” make this movie very watchable, even though you know how everything is going to end within 15 minutes after the movie starts.
Edko Films released “Stuntman” in select U.S. cinemas on October 11, 2024. The movie was released in Hong Kong on September 26, 2024.