The Best of Times

Sensible Wei can't keep a grip on his tearaway best friend Jie, a reckless, feckless type who proves a dangerous liability when they go to work collecting debts for a local bigwig. Yep, it's that Mean Streets dynamic again, this time set in the suburbs of Taipei. The conventional scenario aside, this is a fine film, gorgeously photographed by Chang Yi-Min in a sumptuous palette of blues, greens and reds, and directed by Chang Tso-Chi so that every moment hangs balanced between the promise and uncertainty of youthful experience. It also boasts a most original ending.