Young Jaycee has always been unconventional. Born and raised in the U.S., unlike most Asian Americans, he dropped out of college (College of William and Mary to be exact. Reason for leaving? Supposedly "all you can see in Virginia is sheep".). Then in 2009, he gave up his American citizenship to become a Chinese citizen.
Sid, Jaycee's character, is the recalcitrant loser son of a Hong Kong mob boss Kwan (played by one of bigger China region's best actors of all time: 梁家輝, Tony Leung Ki-Fai. It's a pity that most American audience might've only known him from the early 90s French film "The Lover").
Sid was in an affair with his father's competing mob boss's mistress Carmen. The affair was discovered and the boss demands Kwan cut off Sid's two hands to settle the whole mess. Kwan sends Sid, along with him his most trusted bodyguard, to a mountainous region in Taiwan to hide out.
While there, Sid unexpectedly ran into a traditional Zen Drumming Troupe, concept of which was based on a real group of self-subsisting hippie-like artists rigorously train daily in the art of Zen warrior drumming and perform worldwide. Sid is quite intrigued by the troupe's athletic practices and holistic discipline and quickly joins them. To the troupe-master's surprise, Sid proves himself more than just a spoiled delinquent and starts to enjoy his new-found simple life.
However, the mess he left behind didn't forget him. In the end he finds out that the bodyguard with whom he has bonded was the main engineer scheming to overthrow his father's mob business.
Also worth mentioning is the brief but memorable appearance by Josie Ho (何超仪) as Sid's stubborn older sister determined to stay away from her mafia father and make it as a veterinarian. True to her on-screen black sheep persona, Josie's passion for acting and singing met the cold shoulders of his father Stanley Ho, the gaming king of Macau.
With Chinese subtitles with some of the dialogues in Cantonese. Enjoy the movie.
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