''Gorgeous'' (; released in the Philippines as ''High Risk'') is a 1999 Hong Kong

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Vincent Kok Vincent Kok Tak-chiu (; born 15 August 1965) is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director. Vincent's ancestral hometown is Shandong province. Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing w ...

, who played Lo's assistant, served as a writer with Lo Yiu-fai and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

, who also stars and producer in the film. The film co-stars

Shu Qi Lin Li-hui (born 16 April 1976) ( zh, c=林立慧), better known by her stage name Shu Qi ( zh, c=舒淇), is a Hong Kong–Taiwanese actress and model. Widely regarded as one of the most successful Taiwanese actresses of all time, Shu has receive ...

, Tony Leung, and

Emil Chau Wakin Chau (; born 22 December 1960), better known by his stage name Emil Chau during the 1980s and 1990s, is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese singer and actor, popular throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and parts of Southeast Asia (Sing ...

. The film performed well at the Hong Kong box office.

Plot

Bu (

) is a beautiful young girl from a small

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese fishing village who discovers a romantic

message in a bottle A message in a bottle (abbrev. MIB) is a form of communication in which a message is sealed in a container (typically a bottle) and released into a conveyance medium (typically a body of water). Messages in bottles have been used to send distres ...

. She heads for

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to find its writer, only to learn that it was in fact written by Albert (

Tony Leung Chiu-wai Tony Leung Chiu-wai ( zh , c=梁朝偉, p=Liáng Cháowěi, born 27 June 1962) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. He is one of Asia's most successful and internationally recognized actors. He has won many international acting prizes, including the C ...

), a lonely gay man. She then meets a wealthy recycling company owner, C.N. (

). They fall in love with each other. The plot is soon thickened by the rivalry between Howie Lo (

) and C.N., who are both businessmen who have known each other since their childhood days. In the English dubbed version, some of the dialogues are changed and a few scenes are edited out. These scenes included one at the airport where

Sandra Ng Sandra Ng Kwan-yue (born 2 August 1965) is a Hong Kong actress, film director and producer. Early life and career The daughter of the actor , Ng was born in Hong Kong, where she attended St. Stephen's Girls' College. Encouraged by her parents, s ...

's and Sam Lee's characters conned and robbed Long Yi (

Richie Jen Richie Jen Hsien-chi (, born 23 June 1966), also known as Richie Ren, is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department. Jen debuted in December 1990 with the studio album ''Ask ...

) who supposedly is engaged to Bu and another where

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and former actor, known for his mo lei tau comedy. His career began in television, where he gained recognition through variety shows and TV dramas. Chow's breakthrough came in 1 ...

's policeman character came to investigate after C.N. fought off Howie Lo's masked goons and Albert's friends who on Bu's request pretended to be gangsters attacking her who in turn is pretending to be the reported missing girlfriend of a Taiwan gangster leader.

Cast

as C.N. Chan (T: 陳子午, S: 陈子午, J: can4 zi2 ng5, P: ''Chén Zǐwǔ'') *

as Bu (C: 阿不, J: aa2 bat1, P: ''Ā-bù'') * Tony Leung as Albert *

as Howie Lo (T: 盧乃華, S: 卢乃华, J: lou4 naai5 faa1, P: ''Lú Nǎihuá'') *

as Long Yi (C: 隆一, J: lung4 jat1, P: ''Lóngyī'') *

Chen Sung-young Chen Sung-young (; 1 July 1941 – 17 December 2021) was a Taiwanese actor. He received the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor in 1989. He died on 17 December 2021, at the age of 80. Selected filmography *'' A City of Sadness'' (1989) *'' The Dul ...

as Bu's father *

Elaine Jin Elaine Yen-ling (; born 15 December 1954), also known as Elaine Kam, is a Hong Kong–Taiwanese actress. She began her career in Taiwan in 1973 before moving to Hong Kong in 1981. She has been nominated eleven times in the Hong Kong Film Awar ...

as Bu's mother * Bradley James Allan as Alan *

Tats Lau Tats Lau Yee-Tat (; born 23 February 1963) is a Hong Kong musician, songwriter and actor. Music career During the 1980s, Tats Lau was active in Hong Kong's independent music scene. He established several underground bands including DLLM and OE ...

as Lo's assistant *

Ken Lo Kenneth Lo Wai-Kwong (born 17 March 1959), professionally known as Ken Lo, is a Cambodian-Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He is known for his martial arts and stunt work as a former member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, most nota ...

as Lo's assistant * Kwan Yung as Lo's assistant * William Tuen as Lo's assistant *

Eric Kot Eric Kot Man-fai is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Kot studied in California. He is the second-youngest of three brothers. He formed a comedic music duo with fellow DJ and comedian Jan Lamb called Softhard in the 1980s. He also runs a fashio ...

as Man in Pier *

as thief / Conwoman * Sam Lee as robber / Frog *

Law Kar-ying Dr Law Kar-ying (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor. Background Born Law Hang-tong on September 22 (August 27 Lunar), 1946 in Shunde, Guangdong as the eldest son of actor Law Kar-kuen (羅家權) and his ...

as restaurateur *

as H.K policeman *

Stephen Fung Fung Chun-choi (born 9 August 1974), known professionally as Stephen Fung Tak-lun, is a Hong Kong actor, singer, writer, and film director. Biography Fung Tak-lun was born in Hong Kong and studied at German Swiss International School. He is a gr ...

as photographer *

Daniel Wu Daniel Wu Neh-Tsu (; born September 30, 1974) is an American actor. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 60 films. A three- ...

as photographer's assistant *

Carmen Soo Carmen Soo (born Soo Wai Ming; 14 October 1977) is a Malaysian model and actress. Life and career Soo was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to a Chinese father and to a half-Chinese, half-British mother. She holds a bachelor's degr ...

as Gloria * Jacqueline Li as Michelle * Siu-wai Cheung as Shelly (as Shelly Zhu) Featuring cameo appearances Paul Chang,

Maggie Cheung Ho-yee Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (; born 20 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actress. Career Maggie Cheung Ho-yee was a member of four-piece girl band "PP Gals" in 1991. Her name was "Tina" in the band. They released an album called "PP Gals. DJ Boy" and disb ...

Cheung Tat-ming Cheung Tat-ming () (born 2 July 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, director and writer. Personal life Cheung married Ho Nim-chi, a psychiatrist, in September 2001, subsequently announcing their divorce in 2016. They had one son and one daugh ...

, Asuka Higuchi, Jo Kuk,

Lee Lik-chi Lee Lik-chi (李力持) (born 10 May 1961) is a Hong Kong–based actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Stephen Chow before disassociating each other due to frequent clashes. He is also an active contrib ...

Mark Lui Mark Lui (, born 9 July 1969) is from Hong Kong. He is a composer and producer of Cantopop music with the "On Your Mark" creative team, and part of the Artists and Repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a reco ...

, Edmond So, Kai Man-tin, Ken Wong, Annie Wu,

Kitty Yuen Kitty Yuen ( zh, t=阮小儀; born 23 November 1970) is a Hong Kong radio DJ, television host and actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs ...

, Rocky Lai, Chan Man-ching, Louis Keung and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

Production

Chan had long wanted to be involved in drama films, but had constantly been dissuaded by Leonard Ho, one of the founders of Golden Harvest and Chan's godfather. Ho had argued that to ensure success in his films, Chan should play to his fanbase by only doing action movies and avoiding the love scenes that may alienate certain markets (notably

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

). Ho died on 16 February 1998 and Chan left Golden Harvest soon after, seeking a change and a new freedom to make the films he really wanted to. This coincided with his growing fame in the West, due to the international success of the film ''

Rush Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

''. ''Gorgeous'' was originally conceived purely as a love story, with Chan as producer, but not as one of the film's cast. In order to secure the actress Shu Qi, the script of the film was re-written and a role for Chan was created. This soon developed into a starring role, and elements of action crept in. However, ''Gorgeous'' remains primarily a romantic comedy and so it differs from his usual all-out action films. The action scenes are fewer and there is no real bad guy character – the fight with the nominal enemy (played by

Brad Allan Bradley James Allan (14 February 1973 – 7 August 2021) was an Australian martial artist, action choreographer, actor, and stunt performer. He worked in the Hong Kong film industry as a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and choreographed ...

) is a pre-arranged bout and both fighters wear boxing gloves – competitive rather than motivated by revenge or the fight for survival. The director had wanted to use Chan's office as the set for C.N.'s apartment, but this proved impractical, particularly as that section of the office is on the third floor. However, many props from Chan's office were used including his own training dummy. Chan said of his character C.N., that he was "60-70% Jackie Chan". The clothing the character wears, the training routine he undergoes and healthy lifestyle he maintains, his general good nature and his environmental role are all traits and actions of Chan himself. Chan summarised the difference between the films ''Rush Hour'' and ''Gorgeous'', stating the former was a job, and the latter was his baby. In ''Rush Hour'' his role was restricted to actor and

action director Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...

. In ''Gorgeous'', he was also the producer,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and was involved in

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

. Although a romantic comedy, the only significant kissing scene was dropped from the main film for fear that it would alienate certain

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n markets who may not want to see Chan in such a relationship. The underwater kiss scene was retained and appeared amongst the out-takes that accompany the film's

closing credits Closing credits, aka end credits or end titles, are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, or video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to or at th ...

. The film is notable for casting numerous, then, unknown actors who went on to achieve national and in some cases multi-national success. These include: Sam Lee,

and

Release

''Gorgeous'' was released in Hong Kong on 12 February 1999. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''High Risk'' in early September 2002.

Box office

''Gorgeous'' was a box office success in Hong Kong, grossing HK $40,545,889 during its theatrical run.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Vincent Kok 1999 films 1999 action comedy films 1999 LGBTQ-related films 1999 martial arts films 1999 romantic comedy films 1990s Cantonese-language films 1990s Hong Kong films 1990s martial arts comedy films 1990s romantic action films Chinese New Year films Films about letters (message) Films about violence Films directed by Vincent Kok Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Taiwan Golden Harvest films Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong LGBTQ-related films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Hong Kong romantic action films Hong Kong romantic comedy films Kung fu films LGBTQ-related romantic comedy films Mixed martial arts films