Rating:

4

Year of release: 2004

Genre: comedy

Director: Adrian Kwan

Stars: Kenny Kwan, Steven Cheung, Katie Kwok, Ray Lui, Cheung Tat-Ming, Tats Lau, Michael Chan, Law Kar-Ying, Wu Feng, Lau Shun, Yau Yuet-Ching, Roderick Lam, Bonnie Wong, Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung, Jeff Lau

Rated IIB for language and violence

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6 AM

If you looked up �bland� in the dictionary, chances are that you would find a picture of Kenny Kwan and Steven Cheung (aka the bubblegum pop duo Boy'z). There's nothing disturbing or that off-setting about them, but they're about as exciting as watching the Weather Channel. And when you're asking this �undynamic duo� to carry a movie, that's asking too much for most people to sit through, this reviewer included.

6 AM has Kwan and Cheung playing school chums who take to posing as �extras� for a local gangster (played by long-time HK Triad mainstay Michael Chan) while they are trying to avoid being beat up by the neighborhood bully. The kids are brought to a Triad �war meeting�, where they are recruited to chop the hand of a gangster who disgraced the local �big brother� (portrayed by Ray Lui). Armed with a wad of cash, they have until six in the morning to complete their task � but they run into a series of obstacles along the way which threatens their mission.

The plot here itself isn't too bad, but ultimately the movie feels like it goes nowhere. Even with generic actors, talented film-makers can usually pull something out. Sadly, that is not the case here. The script is by-the-numbers and the characters never fully develop; when the actors are supposed to be displaying real emotion near the finale, it comes off as hollow. Other areas of the film fall short as well -- 6 AM even falls prey to one of the most-often used crutches of film-makers: a sappy musical montage. When it was used in this instance, instead of grabbing a kleenex to wipe away the tears, I wanted to grab the remote and turn off my DVD player.

These shortcomings might have been forgiven if 6 AM was actually funny, but, besides a few small chuckles, there's not much here to tickle the funny bones of viewers. The movie tries its' hardest at Stephen Chow-style �nonsense� comedy with lots of movie parodies, but since Kwan and Cheung have little of the chemistry of Chow, the parodies � like the rest of the film � falls flat. Even if you're a die-hard Boy'z or Twins (who, despite their high billing, only appear for a short time) fan, you must have something better to do with your time than watching this snoozer.