23rd New York Asian Film Festival

July 12-28, 2024

Photo: © 2024 Wow momentum Co., Ltd.

North American Premiere

Breaking and Re-entering

還錢

Leo Wang (The 9th Precinct), a _wunderkind _director who, of his own admission, watched the Ocean's movies more times than you've had hot dinners, has cooked up a hyperbolically hilarious reverse-heist action-comedy. With a star-studded cast firing on all cylinders and bringing their own brand of funny to each character and situation, Wang pulls off a dizzying array of crazy set pieces and head-spinning antics that look like they were raided from the prop closet at Looney Tunes HQ. A gang of scheming super-thieves, fresh off the steal of the century, are forced to put the money back thanks to some sticky extenuating circumstances. We're talking laser-beam obstacle courses, cockroach catastrophes, and more sardonic fun than you can shake a stick at. Wang, a self-proclaimed "Hollywood Kid," has taken his love for American TV and movies and spun it into a gloriously clever and explosive blockbuster satire that’s both a hat-tip to the classics and a beast all its own. But beneath the hijinks, there's a heart that beats to the rhythm of Wang's story.

Director: Leo Wang
Cast: Chen Bolin, Cecilia Choi, Frederick Lee, Kent Tsai, JC Lin, Wu Kang-ren
Languages: Chinese with English subtitles
2024; 109 min.

SCHEDULE:

Monday July 22, 6:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Q&A with director Leo Wang and actor Kent Tsai

Leo Wang
王鼎霖

Leo Wang grew up in the entertainment business, as his parents are both well-known TV producers. At the age of 25, he directed My Gifts, a TV film starring Golden Bell Award-winning actor Chris Wu and popular actress Ivy Shao, winning the hearts of countless viewers. In The 9th Precinct (2019), his feature film debut, he tackles a supernatural theme, blending a commercial Hollywood narrative with a fresh cast and Taiwanese religious and cultural beliefs. The raucous reverse-heist film Breaking and Re-Entering is Wang’s second feature film.

Kent Tsai
蔡凡熙

Kent Tsai made his acting debut on HBO Asia's first original series in Mandarin, The Teenage Psychic, in 2017. In the same year, he appeared in Giddens Ko's horror film Mon Mon Mon Monsters, which screened at NYAFF, and starred in All Because of Love. He went on to star in Kai Ko’s Bad Education (NYAFF 2022), and has continued being active in TV dramas, film and on streaming series, like Sometimes When We Touch (2021) and Taiwan Crime Stories (2023). His latest film is the reverse-heist Breaking and Re-Entering.