When it comes to the Hong Kong entertainment industry, Nick Cheung is a sensation; the actor and singer has starred in TV and movie roles for more than three decades, and more recently has decided to take on the task of being a film director and screenplay writer. In his third endeavour as a writer and director, Cheung ups the ante and also stars as the lead protagonist in ‘The Trough,' a pulpy crime thriller set in a dystopian universe. ‘The Trough' might head in every direction while simultaneously going nowhere at all, but it is a highly engaging watch for those looking for nearly two hours of ridiculously convoluted entertainment.
Watch This Title
Nick Cheung plays Yu Qiu, a hardened undercover cop who drinks copious amounts of alcohol in a variety of forms, lurks the midnight streets of an urban dystopia ridden with crime, and skydives from dangerous mountains just to feel something. Although Yu Qiu has successfully apprehended a considerable number of criminals within the evil city where he works, everything changes when he decides to take on a child abduction case which ultimately leads to his identity being revealed to the criminal underworld. On the run from thugs who aim to hunt him down and kill him, Yu Qiu builds a bond with the child he has saved from the claws of a heartless criminal organization, and gambles with his life in a battle of wits against the group's mysterious leader.
The movie works best in its fastest moments, but fails to captivate in its slower ones. Luckily, it has a lot of momentum, which hits the ground running and rarely slows down its pace; although there are a handful of unrewarding flashbacks and instances of confusing plot-building, these moments are scarce, whereas the action is abundant. “The Trough” excels in being a highly stylized neo-noir thriller, and although there are multiple scenes and settings which do not add up from a logistics standpoint, viewers will mostly be immersed in the experience for the sake of the adventure, rarely questioning the extremely stimulating reality which has been presented to them. With the exception of a few moments where “The Trough” has animation which feels uncanny or simply unrealistic, the majority of the movie holds up nicely with its aesthetic which feels clear and purposeful for the most part.
The visual experience of “The Trough” mostly comprises of intense action sequences, and these moments are complemented by Cheung Man-po's enticing cinematography and the restless music of composer Chan Kwong-wing, who is known for his contributions on the soundtrack of the “Infernal Affairs” trilogy. Although Nick Cheung's screenplay lends some bizarre and confusing elements to the movie's plot, and much of the dialogue feels unrealistic (and sometimes even laughable), the moments of action are frequently daring and insightful; whether it's the car chases, shootouts or fistfights, it is clear that “The Trough” was created by a handful of individuals who know and love crime thrillers and action movies. The acting throughout the film rarely feels genuine or heartfelt, but as the majority of cast members fit into archetypal roles, they do an exemplary job playing these generic characters: Nick Cheung plays a likeable badass criminal hunter in an ominous world of many evils; Xu Jinglei plays a classy (yet sinister) kingpin of organized crime in the city; and child actress Zaha Fathima does a good job at playing a desensitized young girl without a sense of home or family.
For viewers who desire an original concept, unique characters and a strange story with many twists and turns, “The Trough” will be unlikely to satisfy. But for those with no expectations who want to lose themselves in a nonsensical criminal underworld of stylized urban landscapes, mesmerizing action sequences, hilarious moments of unreality and weird exchanges of dialogue… watch Nick Cheung's pulpy crime concoction tonight.
