I don't have a lot of reverence for John Woo. I have next to no interest in gangster movies with lots of shooting. But I love kung fu movies. Unfortunately, John Woo hardly ever does any of those. Oh, the mature John Woo can certainly do action (as in Mission Impossible 2, the best of the lot), but most of his stuff strikes me as horribly dull. In Once A Thief, he attempts a light-hearted action-drama-comedy starring three orphans who are raised first as thieves and then apparently as cops, and then end up becoming thieves. Or something.The movie is dull as dish-water. Featuring insufferable Hong Kong humor (dumb and malicious practical jokes which aren't funny to the ones they happen to, but apparently a barrel of laughs to a Hong Kong audience), and a terrible soundtrack (featuring accordions and such) which is apparently supposed to sound French.Chow Yun Fat's acting is frankly horrid, and his character is a moronic bastard. He's the main reason that this movie is bordering on the unwatchable. (Not that he hasn't been good in other movies; he certainly has. Especially in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.)I watched this movie because I'm a fan of the Once A Thief TV show (1997), which I love. It does everything right - both the comedy and the seriousness -, and happily has nothing whatsoever beyond the name and the fact that it's got three lead characters in it in common with the movie. The characters in the movie are not involved in an organized crime family like the ones in the TV show, and in the TV show they aren't even thieves (well, they were once, but...), so the title doesn't make sense, either, as anything but an attempt to capitalize on the fame of the movie, the wisdom of which is questionable to say the least.Anyway, I'll spare you my bitterness over John Woo's general suckage and just express my gratitude that he has nothing whatsoever to do with the TV show, despite being credited as executive producer.3 out of 10.

Sorry, guys for the trivial summary ! This is my first review on IMDb, plus I am a Frenchman.It was only when I understood the purpose of this movie, that I was ready to rate it. During the movie, I enjoyed the quality of the picture (colors and lights are great, the music is good too)... The gunfights were OK to me (It's not a typical John Woo bullet-filled movie, and that's a plus to me), the accent of the french businessman funny, and the stupid jokes of the 2 thieves were "cool", the way they defeat their enemies surprising...So I was saying to myself : this was an-above-the-average Kung-Fu and mafia movie when suddenly... I got it ! This movie is full of... love ! John Woo shows his love of Paris, his respect for friendship, the way he would like handicapped people to be treated, and many other things... So, in my opinion, this movie beats every Jackie Chan movie, because it is filled with humanity and humility.I am glad I watched this gem and I recommend it to you.My only complaint is that it's a tiny bit too long.

This film is in a different vein to John Woo's other films, the body count is lower than in any other of his heroic bloodshed movies. He uses martial arts more than in any other, and the infinitely charismatic Chow Yun Fat, played his role more like Benny Hill than clint Eastwood(Although Mr Chow, versatile as he is can play comedy just as well as his silent assassin, or the take no prisoners cop.) The departure from the standard Woo, high bodycount, 2 hour long shoot out type of film come from the fact that he had just made his two darkest films "The Killer" and "Bullet in the head". "At that time the world thought I was a very pessimistic guy" said Woo "but I just wanted to show to the world that I was actually an optimisic guy. I always think there's hope and beauty in the world" hence this light hearted film, in the style of an old heist movie. The plot centers around three highly skilled are thieves played by Chow Yun Fat, Cherie Chung and Leslie Cheung, involved in a love triangle. Although not as developed as "a better tomorrow", as beautifully cinematic as "The Killer" or as "brutally high octane as "a better tomorrow 2" and the fantastic "Hard boiled". This piece delivers, and is still miles better than anything that could come out of Hollywood. (with the possible exception of John Woo's american projects) If you know you would like this film go and buy it. I did, and although I paid a ridiculouly high price for it, I knew that Woo and Chow would not dissapoint, so it was money well spent.

I liked this film a lot, but I was constantly having to remind myself it was a John Woo film. Yeah, there are explosions, gunfights, violence, etc. etc. but it's all kept reasonably tame (for Woo at least). The movie was funny and charming--nothing like you'd expect from one of his films. Worth watching, but Yun-Fat (sp?) should stick to drama - he was overacting WAY too much in this one when he tried to be funny.