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Âû¦PÀnÁ¿ (1988)
Chicken and Duck Talk


Reviewed by: dandan
Date: 07/17/2009
Summary: bbq vs fried

a much loved and lauded tale of the competition between hui's (michael hui) traditional, if terribly run down, barbecue duck restaurant and danny's (lawrence ng) eponymous, western style, fried chicken joint.

a fun, if slightly dated, comic affair, with a few big laughs, some chuckles and a stellar cast which is enough to keep you viewing by itself. as well as michael, brother ricky is also present, sam makes a cameo and the likes of sylvia chang, lowell lo, teddy yip and gloria yip fleshing out the supporting roles.

good stuff...


Reviewed by: cal42
Date: 08/27/2006

The owner of a run-down traditional barbequed duck restaurant (Michael Hui) is forced to modernise and rethink his sales strategy when “Danny’s”, a new fried chicken restaurant, moves across the street taking all of his custom with such gimmicks as cleanliness and friendly staff! Even Hui’s staff mutiny and Cuttlefish (Ricky Hui) joins the rival restaurant by dressing as a giant chicken to hand out advertising leaflets to the public. The two restaurants then engage in a series of sneaky battles of one-upmanship to drive the other out of business.

CHICKEN AND DUCK TALK is a comedy that is quite highly regarded by fans of Michael Hui, and there are certainly some good gags in here. However, I tend to think there are more misses than hits. Most of the humour comes from Hui’s staff and the restaurant itself and it’s likely to either get you rolling in your seat or throwing up, depending on your constitution. It really is squalid and disgusting, but is (I hope) taken to comic-book extremes of exaggeration.

There’s quite an impressive cast here. Along with Hui brothers Michael and Ricky (who understandably take up most of the screen time), there’s Sylvia Chang as Hui’s wife (and she’s as sexy as ever without actually doing anything even remotely sexy or provocative!), and veteran actor Ku Feng as the rival shop’s manager, who takes to the comic nature of the film very well. Supporting them are many familiar faces, most notably Lowell Lo as the sneaky employee who tries to steal Hui’s secret spicy duck recipe – to the theme tune from James Bond! One thing that amused me is the appearance of Ken Boyle, who most will remember from ARMOUR OF GOD. One minute he’s the Grand Wizard of a dangerous religious cult hell-bent on taking over the world, the next he’s “dissatisfied customer” in a fast food restaurant. That’s showbiz!

The film has mostly good intentions, and a very moral heart to it, but it does slip up on occasions. At one point, Hui goes undercover as a Hindu woman and visits Danny’s restaurant. Which is fair enough – I can see the comedy potential of that. But then the whole thing has to degenerate into mild xenophobia, with a comment along the lines of “all Indians have a bad smell”. The scene does end quite funnily though.

I’m not 100% sure of the details, but I understand that Michael and Sam Hui had a bit of a falling out when the latter left to do the internationally famous ACES GO PLACES series. It’s nice then that Sam appears (very briefly, and presumably as himself) when he opens Danny’s restaurant. He also supplies the film’s theme song.

Overall the film is funny, but not the laugh riot I expected. It will be known to many fans that some of Hui’s films have not aged well, and this may be the case here (at the time of writing, it’s eighteen years old). But I’m willing to bow to better judgement that it’s a classic and maybe I’m missing something fundamental.

Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Frank Lakatos
Date: 02/10/2006
Summary: Another hilarious Hui brothers movie..

Another hilarious Hui brothers movie, with stingy duck restaurant Michael and his recently fired employee Ricky Hui wear a chicken and a home made duck suit, peck headbutt each other in competation of restaurants, as kung fu veteran Ku Feng uses Japanese capitalist fast food tactics against Michael Hui's old fashioned and poorly run duck restaurant, full of disfunctional employess, while Michale Hui disguises himself as a Hindu in order to spy on the new Chicken restaurant, while a turban hindu man blows kisses at him, while other hilarious scenes follow. An extremely funny comedy balanced with dramatic overtones and humanity. One of the Hui's brothers best work. Highly recommended. 5/5


Reviewed by: jhoung
Date: 08/08/2005

It's finally out on DVD! Being somewhat of a clean freak myself, I found the unhygienic practices horrific. Michael Hui plays the owner of the duck roast restaurant very well, being mean, overworking, and short-changing his employees, but being funny at the same time! When the new flagship fried chicken store opens across the street, the well-paying jobs and benefits grab the workers' attention. Who will leave? Is there any loyalty to the mean boss?

Lots of smiles and laughs. Of the movies Michael Hui has written and that I have watched, this is now my favorite.


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 10/25/2001
Summary: Pretty good

Though quite old, this movie will still give you a few good laughs!!

7/10


Reviewed by: ElectraWoman
Date: 10/12/2000
Summary: 7/10-Harmless Fun

Another film showing Michael Hui doing what he does best-the battler prevailing against the odds and beating the rich. This time Hui is the owner of an old, run-down restaurant specializing in roast duck, and business dwindles when a fast-food restaurant called Danny's Fried Chicken opens on the other side of the street. Danny and Hui then battle it out with an assortment of weapons, including mascots, with Danny wanting to take over Hui's restaurant, while Hui wants to stay put.

I really liked how Hui's character eventually learns from his past mistakes, and how they've managed to capture the sheer dirtiness of old Chinese restaurants (have a walk into HK and you'll know what I mean). The cheesy ending was a bit of a let-down for me-I'm not really into those sorts of things-but aside from that, there's some hilarious jokes and you gotta love Hui Koon-Ying's performance.


Reviewed by: hktopten
Date: 12/21/1999

The story begins with Michael Hui's run-down Chinese Restaurantwhich specializes in Roast Duck. (The condition and service of the place reminds me of some of the places in Chinatown. REALLY Gross). Hui is a chef and the owner of the establishment who treats his employees worse than slaves. Then all will soon change as the new KFC-like Danny's Fried Chicken opens across the street, with the business genius Danny (Ng Kai Wah) heading the helm. The film continues as Hui's business goes down the tube and in order to save his beloved food place, Hui tries everything he can, and in doing so, eventually reevaluates his actions of the past and changes for the better. I was a little disappointed because I was waiting for Sam to appear the whole time, but besides that, a pretty good movie. The funniest scene to me is the scene with the two rivals' mascots.