The Top Bet

I had the chance to sit down to watch the 1991 Hong Kong comedy here in 2021. I must say that I didn't even know about this movie, so when the chance presented itself to watch it, of course I took that chance.

First of all, I must admit that I was relieved to see that this was not just another "God of Gamblers" movie. But instead, this was a nice parody on those movies, so it was a much welcomed movie for my preference. And I will say that writer Jeffrey Lau actually managed to churn out a story that held equal parts of comedy and seriousness to it, and the combination of "God of Gamblers" meeting traditional early 1990s Hong Kong slapstick comedy definitely worked out so quite well.

The storyline told in "The Top Bet" (aka "Dou baa") was an enjoyable one. Though I must admit having Stephen Chow appear in the beginning of the movie and end of the movie was sort of dangling the carrot on a string in front of the audience. It was a shame that he was no in the movie more, because he could have added so much more enjoyment to the movie. But the story told here, is a very straight forward one, and director Jeffrey Lau and Corey Yuen brought it to life on the screen in a funny and fulfilling manner.

"The Top Bet" has a pretty good ensemble of cast members, with the likes of Anita Mui, Stephen Chow, Man-Tat Ng, Paul Chun, Wah Yuen, Corey Yuen, Sandra Kwan Yue Ng, Fui-On Shing and Carol 'Do Do' Cheng. So if you have a health interest in the Hong Kong cinema, then you are definitely in for quite a treat here in terms of familiar faces and names.

I enjoyed "The Top Bet" quite a lot, and the laughs provided here were bountiful and plenty. So if you enjoy Hong Kong comedies, then "The Top Bet" is a movie that is well-worth the time and effort.

My rating of "The Top Bet" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.