The STOOL PIGEON 綫人 Movie Review. Greed, Pain, Conscience. Nothing is what it Seems.

The STOOL PIGEON 綫人 Press Preview

For those who don’t know, a STOOL PIGEON is a police informant.

We are talking about this latest cops-and-gangsters flick by the grand master of gritty police whodunits – DANTE LAM.

Expect loads of shoot-outs, car chases, explosions, stabbings, bludgeonings and fleeing down narrow streets and dirty alleys.

LIFE IS CHEAP here.

The name of the game is fiery action, fast and furious.

And if you are one avid follower of his films, then the name DANTE LAM never fails.

DON LEE (NICK CHEUNG) plays one seemingly righteous senior police officer. He mercilessly exploits people in the course of his work. He is trained to milk stoolies for as much intel as possible without getting up close and personal. He bears a cold demeanor, but when stripped of his veneer, he is a man, assailed by inexplicable loneliness and guilt, as he watches haplessly – dire events unfolding before him that he’s unable to curb.

GHOST (NICHOLAS TSE) is a street smart ex-con who wears his heart on his sleeve, who’s been released from jail and is recruited by NICK as a stool pigeon (informant). Until then, all  he ever wanted was a safe, normal life after serving his prison sentence. But hell no, he has to save his sister from falling prey to prostitution.  But first, he has to settle their father’s one million dollar debt. Having no choice, GHOST reluctantly accepts to assist LEE and is soon recruited as a driver for BARBARIAN’s next heist.

The mission?

To infiltrate the Triad’s den headed by BARBARIAN (LU YI), uncover their plans and prevent further heinous “happenings”.

The rest is pretty much predictable.

Something is bound to go awry, something terribly wrong.

BARBARIAN covers his tracks meticulously and GHOST is convinced to be the key witness for the prosecution, with promise of a new life in a new country.

Alas, things are not meant to be, no sir.

There are moments of respite, the lull before the storm, when the gloom is temporarily dispelled to allow for a trickle of sentiments.

This is when GHOST falls in love with BARBARIAN’s gal (KWAI LUN-MEI), fueling complications that the job is going to hit a treacherous bend, a fatal turn.

Director DANTE LAM reworked an “opposite” formula this time round.

Although the film is made by the same team that produced “THE BEAST STALKER,” NICK CHEUNG, who won Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role as the kidnapper in that film, plays a cop in this one.

And the sergeant NICHOLAS TSE from “THE BEAST STALKER” now portrays a recently released convict who becomes an informer for CHEUNG.

A switch of roles for the lead actors, where the “bad” becomes the good and vice versa.

Pitch two of  ASIAN hottest stars against each other and you should get a winner on your hands.

NICK CHEUNG excels as a tormented Inspector who is hurting from intense guilt and angst when he realizes that he too, has to carry out orders from the top brass, and that he is just another puppet on a string.

NICHOLAS TSE is la manifique in his performance as a hoodlum whose life is put on the balance – when he has to choose between an unworthy job as a stoolie and a new found love that is pulling him back into the dumps.

STOOL PIGEON is an emotionally charged action thriller that will grip you with its intense rage and desperation.

We witness the psychological warfare of police informants and the officers who are supposed to protect them, although we know truly well that nothing is infallible, both people and their plans.

We watch with trepidation as the “big” fish swallows the “small” fish and how promises are made but never kept.

Ultimately, THE STOOL PIGEON will keep your adrenaline surging as the pace quickens when the plot thickens.

Just stay braced!

As in all DANTE LAM’s films, there’s always this air of brooding chill.

You cannot help that hearts are empty,

Hopes are dashed.

It’s like observing a vast barren landscape a la THOMAS HARDY’s poem “A DARKLING THRUSH” …..

waiting, earnestly waiting in that teeny second, for the sound of the thrush to burst into song.

But that is not going to happen any moment soon, RIGHT?

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