Overheard (2009)

Simply A Masterpiece

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

An Exercise In Nonsense

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I recently watched this movie in a long flight and even with the not so perfect environment I viewed this in I have to say this movie was great. So much so that I skipped any sleep and watched part 2 and 3 immediately afterwards in one sitting (a wise decision since those were great too, specially Overheard 2 which was my favorite of the three)The movie revolves around 3 police officers who work in the surveillance department and are trying to nab a financial firm suspected of being involved in criminal activities and insider trading. The plot while not really unique is executed well. The main focus of the story however is the trio of Lau Ching-Wan (who plays the head of the 3) Louis Koo and Daniel Wu whose character development and the interaction among them makes the story interesting at all times. Their acting was great and realistic and the movie direction really brings out their best. Another screen presence that really makes an impact is Michael Wong who plays the part of a corrupt financial mogul really well. The combination of witty and brutal in his performance and dialogues are very well crafted and add a lot of depth to the movieWithout spoiling too much I would really recommend you try out this movie if you like the crime/thriller genre and like movies with more to it than all the mediocre stuff that Hollywood has been mass producing for a while. Hong Kong really knows how to make great movies and this one's no exception

I saw this movie from DVD just recently.This is another typical HK movie with an interestingly unusual main plot that could have carried the movie well but like most HK movies, they add in a lot of subplots built on the characters to make the movie's script easier to write or give the audience more value for money. This spoiled the film. Someone having an affair with a colleague's wife; another needs money because the son needs an operation and need even more when discovered he needs an operation too; while the 3rd one need more money so that he don't need to depend on his rich future father-in-law. Then 2 other polices having a secret affair. A stock market scene with someone paying hard to her Lord. Then suddenly all went into further trouble just because someone recognized some's face and all towards the end, a fairytale like ending that is unconvincingly unbelievable, especially on the part of Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Micheal Wong. The overall cast acted well except for Micheal Wong, his speech and acting(as usual)was disgusting.I am very surprised an experienced reviewer could give it a 9/10.

I'm increasingly loving the direction that Hong Kong movies have taken in the new millennium - or rather, after the super success of Infernal Affairs in 2002 - towards taut thrillers full of action and twists and polish. However, while most look good on the surface, not many reach the level of quality that Infernal Affairs did (I much preferred it to The Departed, incidentally). Overheard is about a trio from a police surveillance team who illegally use "overheard" insider trading information towards their own gains and have to face the violent repercussions that follow. Quite an interesting story but it wasn't as tight as I would've liked. I mean, oops one of them lets a witness see his face and oops that witness just happens to spot him again while about to flee the country - that's too much of a stretch. The action's good though - there were some tense sequences - and the acting's decent. I'm a fan of Lau Ching Wan and though Louis Koo and Daniel Wu are overrated, they're adequate enough here. Actually I think I've never seen Koo better, though he looked much too pretty for his role.

liked the 1st half. not the 2nd. But if the movie took more time/detail.. to go 120min instead of 90. Maybe.first off, the mafia/business guy is miscast. The speech thingy is kind of show off, but the speeches are kind of shallow - this is the kind of details I'm talking about.another example, there's a direct jump to the execution when all goes haywire in the middle for the 3 guys. Understood they're being hasty but would have like to show that more - that's the kind of took more time/detail I'm talking about.and the ending is sad but kind of made to be sad. Koo should have died in the previous act.