Review | Smashing Frank movie review: Hedwig Tam leads a robbery gang in slick-looking heist drama

3/5 stars

A quartet of rookie robbers take on the elite yet corrupt members of the older generation in Smashing Frank.

This stylish but lightweight crime drama, however, is considerably more effective as a portrait of disaffected youth than as a parable on the growing chasm between young and old, and wealthy and poor, in Hong Kong.

The feature debut of writer-director Trevor Choi Hong-ying, a Hong Kong native who started his film-directing education upon returning to the city in 2018, Smashing Frank is notable for being part-financed with a crowdfunding campaign initiated by the YouTube Channel “16 by 9”, of which Choi is director.

While the project’s early backers may feel disappointed with the subsequent changes of producer – originally Fruit Chan Gor – and all four of its lead actors, an argument could be made that its current cast represents an upgrade in both critical acclaim and commercial appeal.

After a cryptic opening that bleeds attitude but reveals little, we are introduced to Ayla (Hedwig Tam Sin-yin), the impoverished leader of a new gang named “Frank”; Hugo (Locker Lam Ka-hei), a loyal accomplice who may be her boyfriend; and Chun (Sham Ka-ki), a nerd they recruit while all are serving community-service sentences.

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