Tang Wei (Lust, Caution) and Lei Jiayin (The Wandering Earth) star in this old-fashioned action-thriller…
After the phenomenal success of romantic dramas/comedies Finding Mr. Right and Book Of Love, you probably weren’t expecting the next film that writer-director Xue Xiaolu and star Tang Wei would work on together would be an action thriller co-produced by Australia, were you? Less surprising perhaps, considering the reference-heavy nature of those films – Finding Mr. Right’s original Chinese title literally translates as ‘Beijing meets Seattle’ – is the result is a throwback to Hitchcock espionage thrillers like North By Northwest and The Man Who Knew Too Much, as well as those that should have been, like Charade.
Taking that typical accidental hero troupe straight out of Hitchcock’s book, we find Mark (Lei Jiayin, Brotherhood Of Blades II, The Wandering Earth), a senior employee at a global Eco energy company based in Australia enlisted to help woo potential clients from China. When he discovers that the wife of that client is an old flame Wen (Tang Wei, Long Day’s Journey Into Night), that rekindles deep-rooted feelings that end in a night of passion. Mark pays for that infidelity as he gets drawn deeper and deeper into a conspiracy to coverup energy company practices at the root of an earthquake disaster in Malawi that could have the same impact in China with even more disastrous results. With various henchmen on their tail, and Mark unable to trust anyone at face value, the race is on for them to expose the truth – as long as they can survive long enough.
Though perhaps an unlikely move from Xue Xiaolu – her debut Ocean Heaven featured Jet Li in a very non-action role, and earlier this year saw her contribution to My People, My Country, an anthology released to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Yet Xue actually proves herself reasonably adept at action scenes, greatly assisted by action director Chris Anderson, whose work includes Mad Max and Pitch Black. Easily it’s best when relying on proper old school stunts like cars rolling than CG effects. There are some nice touches too, such as a fight involving a defibrillator where our hero ends up with the paddles in his hand, sending an assailant through a glass window. There’s just not enough of it. Disappointingly the film isn’t as globetrotting as the filmmakers would like us to believe, with Victoria rather obviously standing in for Malawi. During news footage, there’s an uneasy use of what looks like real disaster footage from Africa.
Instead, Xue concentrates on the relationship between Mark and Wen, despite derailing the romantic element by showing us that he has a very happy life with his loving wife Judy (Qi Xi, Mystery, So Long, My Son) and son Daniel. Whatever his feelings for Wen, it’s not only he has no reason to look elsewhere – he also just doesn’t seem the type to jeopardise all that on a fling! This creates all sorts of awkwardness in the relationship that should be propelling the film’s narrative. It’s a sign of the times, and perhaps a female director, that he is in no way let off for his impiety. The preachiness of the script often reaches (unintentionally) hilarious levels, though, even ending on onscreen statements about the importance of whistleblowing in law.
Xue keeps the narrative clean, if rather predictable, just managing to paper over some glaring plot holes. Now I’m pretty sure that even private jets take notice of who is and who isn’t on a flight. And the closeup interest in those tattoos on various henchmen around the world, quickly forgotten. The biggest problem with the script is that it is so clichéd and obvious, there are few surprises. It all feels too simplistic, when some intelligence or even knowing wit could save the film. Subtlety is hardly the word here. When there’s a chance for Wen and Judy to reconcile and all move back to China together, they’re standing in front of a construction sign that says, “Building a new life.” When the conspiracy is finally exposed, it’s with a mix of revelations that were either flagged earlier on or others that are strangely missing – and all over-architected for a sting that feels old-fashioned in delivery. Seriously, in this day and age with technology? The only bite comes from what feels like a sideways stab at the expatriate life – that after so many years working in Australia, Mark still doesn’t have citizenship.
It’s just as well Lei Jiayin makes such an engaging, everyman lead, rightly cast in the more in the old Hollywood style than the dashingly young and attractive we’d see today. Tang Wei, having built such a rapport with director Xue, is clearly enjoying every moment of it. And frankly, when it comes to Qi Xi, she basically acts everyone else off the screen! The Australian cast are fine, avoiding at least some of the awkwardness apparent when Asian directors direct Westerners. It’s a pretty slick production, with good cinematography from Marc Spicer (Lights Out, Fast & Furious 7) and a score from composer David Hirschfelder (Shine, Elizabeth) that does all the right things.
Coming in at 134 minutes, the film is way too long for its own good, leading to inevitable false endings. It desperately needs either more action, intelligence or even a well-placed romance. That’s not to suggest The Whistleblower is terrible, it’s just not anything you haven’t seen before, and it’s hard to think it will set cinemas alight. It may gain better traction when released on streaming services.