So, John Woo, one of, if not the greatest Hong Kong action director, directed a comedy. An action comedy, this is still Woo after all, but still a comedy. The story going that there are these three orphans, who have two foster fathers. One of them a criminal overlord, one a police officer. Initially they lean more towards the former, being master art thieves, but the influence of the latter cannot be denied.This is a peculiar movie to review. I mean, John Woo is John Woo. When you see one of his movies you expect iron tight action scenes, grim urban settings and tough antiheroes. And while this movie does have all of those, it doesn't feature them in a prominent role. It almost feels like a silly parody of a John Woo film, except that the man himself directed it. And yet at the same time it kinda works. Kinda sorta. I mean, it's silly beyond belief, but the action scenes, when they happen, are of the usual Woo goodness - though admittedly he doesn't bring in his A-game here.The actors are also charismatic and talented - with Chow Yun-fat once again stealing the show. The silliness of the story means that there are no great character moments, but then again I'd say that there is enough substance here to please those that require three-dimensional characters in order to enjoy a movie.Once a Thief is a barrel of laughs. Is it John Woo's best work? Not even close. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two and it certainly doesn't pale in comparison with Western action comedies.

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.

It is quite impressive after I found out movie was made 11 years ago. Many scenes have been copied in many other movies and even an American remake. Most Hollywood action actors cannot act in slow scene, but not Chow. As in many Hong Kong movies, you cannot just classify them as pure action or pure comedy or pure love story. The other support can act too. American audience will lose most of the jokes in Cantonese. However, you will enjoy the movie from the beginning to the end even you have to read the sub title that is not quite correct in many cases.

In the beginning I thought: what a strange movie. As I continued watching I realized that it's really a great movie with lots of cool action and lots of fun. Unfortunately, the German version is heavily cut because of too much violence :-(