''Once a Thief'' () is a 1991 Hong Kong heist

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...

, who also wrote the screenplay with Janet Chun and

Clifton Ko Clifton Ko (; born 6 August, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, actor, producer and scriptwriter. Background Clifton Ko graduated from Kwun Tong Maryknoll College, and entered TV and film industry in late 1970s, firstly worked with director C ...

. The film stars

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''A Be ...

Leslie Cheung Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...

Cherie Chung Cherie Chung Chor-hung (; born 16 February 1960) is a retired Hong Kong film actress. Of Hakka ancestry, she was one of the top actresses in Hong Kong film during the 1980s. Background Chung participated in the 1979 Miss Hong Kong competition an ...

Kenneth Tsang Kenneth Tsang Kong (; 5 October 1934 – 27 April 2022) was a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles. Tsang won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. Early ...

and Paul Chu. The film was released on 2 February 1991.

Plot

The story is about three orphans and their two father figures. They are taken in by both a wealthy crime boss which leads to their close friendship, and a kind police officer. Nevertheless, the trio grows up learning high-tech methods of theft and specialise in stealing treasured paintings. After a heist in France goes awry, Red Bean Pudding is thought to be dead and James takes his place as Red Bean's lover. However, Pudding returns in a wheelchair, and the group begins planning their next heist for themselves, fall out of favour with Chow, and various complications and gun battles ensue.

Cast

as Red Bean Pudding/Joey *

as James *

as Red Bean/Cheri *

as Chow * Paul Chu as Godfather * Bowie Wu as Stanley Wu * John Tang Yat-gwan as Young Red Bean Pudding * Tong Ka-fai as Young James *

Leila Tong Leila Kong ( ;born 5 December 1981) known professionally as Leila Tong / Tong Ning () is a Hong Kong actress. She was born into an Indonesian Cantonese family. Her birth name is used in her works during her childhood and adolescence. Career ...

as Young Red Bean * Declan Wong as Magician Henchman *

David Wu David Wu (born April 8, 1955) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As a child of immigrants from Taiwan, Wu was the first Taiwanese American to serve in ...

as Auctioneer * Pierre-Yves Burton as Mr Le Bond, a Frenchman who hires Joey, and James to steal a painting, but later betrays them. Le Bond is later murdered by Chow's henchmen as a loose end.

Release

The film grossed

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

33,397,149 in Hong Kong.

Columbia Tri-Star Columbia TriStar or Columbia Tristar may refer to: *Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, now Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group *Columbia TriStar Home Video, later called Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and now Sony Pictures Home Entertainm ...

released it on DVD in the United States on 22 April 2003. It included no special features beyond trailers. On 27 December 2004,

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought ...

released a DVD in the United Kingdom. Eight months later, on 5 September 2005, the ''John Woo Collection'', a four-disc DVD set, was released. It includes the two action films '' Bullet in the Head'' and '' The Killer''.

Reception

Scott Tobias of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote that Woo's style makes up for the film's implausibility and lack of logic. Kevin Lee

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote that the film has "a lack of focus and an uneven tone". Chris Gould of DVDactive.com rated the film 5/10 and wrote that there was too much slapstick. J. Doyle Wallis of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 2.5/5 stars and called it "an odd and annoyingly silly entry during ohn Woo'smost creative period."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{John Woo 1991 films 1991 comedy films 1990s buddy comedy films 1990s crime comedy films 1990s heist films 1990s martial arts comedy films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films about orphans Films about theft Films directed by John Woo Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Paris Films set in Vancouver Gun fu films Hong Kong buddy films Hong Kong crime comedy films Hong Kong heist films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Hong Kong New Wave films 1990s Hong Kong films