The Corruptor

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat can say more with a toothpick and a grin than most actors can with a dramatic monologue. His second American film, The Corruptor, stages Chow as the hard-boiled cop teaching neophyte officer Danny Wallace (Wahlberg) the ropes of a hyperbolically renegade Manhattan Chinatown. Corruption plagues cops, G-men, and criminals, with Chow and Wahlberg mired in the ambiguous middle of it all. Yeah, it's an action flick, but a number of nuanced relationships fleshes out The Corruptor. The two leads have an excellent chemistry balancing wariness and respect; Danny and his debt-ridden father form another noteworthy pair. The plot develops with enough twists to propel Chow Yun-Fat's coolly charismatic presence beyond his trademark pleasures of the grin and the gun.