Osaka Wrestling Restaurant (2004) December 14, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Romance, 2000s films , trackbackDirector: Tommy Law Cast: Timmy Hung; Wayne Lai; Ueno Miku Territory: Hong Kong/Japan Production Companies: Same Way Production Ltd; Yes Visions Co
Failed chef Ricky (Timmy Hung) is reunited with his brother Mike (Wayne Lai) upon the death of their father. Mike has “escaped” to Japan, and when Ricky caches up with him, he insists upon using their father’s inheritance to open a new style of restaurant – one when the diners can watch authentic Japanese wrestling while they eat! Helping them to make the restaurant a success is a Japanese reporter stranded in Hong Kong (Ueno Miku) and an unlikely bunch of would-be wrestlers with more enthusiasm than talent.
Funny how these things work out – a couple of weeks ago I’m doing a review on a film with Jackie Chan’s son (the rather topper Invisible Target), and now I find myself, quite by accident, reviewing a film with Sammo Hung’s son Timmy. Which raises an interesting question – does Yuen Biao have a son? Hmm. I’ll get my secretary to do some research immediately, and see if we can get a reunion of the three brothers’ sons as I think this is the only way we’ll get those genes together on screen again. Anyway, I digress – and it’s only the second paragraph…
Osaka Wrestling Restaurant starts off in a pretty naff way with some truly awful acting with Timmy Hung looking like he can’t keep a straight face despite the comedy being aimed at no higher than infant school level. This is zero-budget Hong Kong fare at its worst, I feared. Not even the inclusion of frequent Stephen Chow collaborator Law Kar-Ying as Ricky’s insane and comically evil ex-boss raises the level appreciably.
However, things definitely take a turn for the better when Wayne Lai enters the film. I’ve written about this guy before, so I won’t repeat myself, but he definitely seems to raise everybody’s game in this film - which seems like a wild claim but I urge anyone doubting it to see for yourself. He also has the film’s only dramatic moments when he tries to reconcile with the wife and son he left when he moved to Japan, claiming to be a changed man.
The first smiles are raised, inevitably, when the “Wrestling Restaurant” starts auditioning for performers and we get the usual gathering of oddballs, nutters and misfits. You’d be right to think that from here on in, the comedy pretty much writes itself, but this is not necessarily a bad thing considering the lameness of the early scenes. I’m guessing that the Japanese wrestlers shown or spoofed here (or at least the guy called “Super Delfin”) are “real” Japanese wrestlers, but I have to plead ignorance on the subject. The production does seem to be a Japanese/Hong Kong collaboration and the term “Osaka Wrestling” is used so often that I suspect it’s got to have some basis in fact (and is used to plug the sport I expect). The wrestling action is primarily played for laughs, but if you’re more aware of the subject than me, there may well be some in-jokes in there that went over my head.
We get some romantic comedy thrown in as well for no extra cost, and the inclusion of Japanese Ueno Miku as Kyoko provides some eye-candy for the male viewers. While the story is strictly by the numbers (boy meets girl, boy drops girl in a river for no readily apparent reason, boy courts girl while wearing wrestling mask to avoid girl finding out he was the one who dropped her in a river, girl finds out boy’s identity and dumps him, boy and girl get together again) this kind of thing is never too taxing and everyone can at least relate to it.
Sticking with Osaka Wrestling Restaurant does yield rewards, and by the end I was well into it. There are a few really good laughs (such as Tats Lau’s costume after he comes back from an unexpected trip) and the occasional moment of (light) drama. I suspect it is the kind of film that one can enjoy best with zero expectations and a hankering for some of the less demanding fare coming from Hong Kong. Although initially I was extremely sceptical of the merits of the film, I was eventually won over by two faults and a submission.
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