Lee Yan-kong directs "A Fighter's Blues" ("Ah Fu") featuring Andy Lau as "Tiger", a 40-ish (e.g., way past having any business stepping in the ring) former Muay Thai champion (from HK, no less)who has battled corruption in his career, eventually landing him in jail for killing an opponent outside the ring. Once released, he seeks out his lover, a Thai photojournalist named Pim. "Passive InterModulation"? No, Pim, a Thai woman. Unfortunately, Pim is no more, but their one-nighter has yielded a daughter named Ploy, a 14-year old street-wise orphan who was raised in a Catholic orphanage by a Japanese pseudo-nun named Sister Miyoko, played by TBS drama queen Tokiwa Takako ("Meguri Ai", "Utsukushii Hito", "Saigo no Koi", "Beautiful Life"). A nun, by the way, who has a tattoo, smokes cigarettes and drinks Heinekens. Okay, so she's not really a nun, but that's okay, because she does a heck of a job with the kids. And it frees her up to fall in love with Tiger. But one thing gets in the way - the Thai Boxing Commission wants Tiger out of Thailand because of his past. Tiger asks to make amends by fighting the reigning Muay Thai champ, Tawon, who's half his age. Personally, I was hoping for better training and fight footage, but sadly, the story leaves only a few minutes for the big fight. By far, the biggest question in my mind was whether Tokiwa Takako's voice was dubbed or just badly synched. I mean, her character speaks Chinese, Thai, Japanese and English, so that's asking a lot from the dialogue coaches. Overall, an interesting if not predictable story with the sub-par fight sequences the only real let down for me.
