Mr. Nice Guy (1997 film)

Not to be confused with Mr. Nice Guy (1987 film).

Mr. Nice Guy
Film poster
Traditional	一個好人
Simplified	一个好人
Mandarin	Yī Gè Hǎo Rén
Cantonese	Jat1 Go3 Hou2 Jan4
Directed by	Sammo Hung
Produced by	Leonard Ho Chua Lam
Written by	Edward Tang Ma Fibe
Starring	Jackie Chan Richard Norton Gabrielle Fitzpatrick Miki Lee
Music by	Clarence Hui Peter Kam J. Peter Robinson
Cinematography	Raymond Lam
Editing by	Peter Cheung
Distributed by	Hong Kong: Golden Harvest United States: Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	Hong Kong: 31 January 1997 (1997-01-31) United States: 18 March 1998 (1998-03-18)
Running time	101 mins
Country	Hong Kong
Language	English Cantonese Mandarin
Gross revenue	Hong Kong: HK$45,420,457 United States US$12,716,953

Mr Nice Guy (一個好人, LSHK Jat1 go3 hou2 jan4) is a 1997 Hong Kong martial arts action crime comedy film directed by Sammo Hung and starring Jackie Chan. It also stars Richard Norton as the villain, with whom Chan had worked in 1993 film City Hunter and Chan and Hung had worked in Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars. Hung makes a cameo as an unfortunate cyclist.

Mr. Nice Guy was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. It was released internationally in 1998. In some releases it was given alternative titles such as Mister Cool (France) and Super Chef (Spain).

Plot

Television journalist Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) manages to record footage of a cocaine deal gone wrong, between the Italian mob and a street gang known as the Demons. The footage shows mob boss Giancarlo (Richard Norton) killing the Demon's leader. Diana's partner is captured and she bumps into TV chef Jackie (Jackie Chan), who helps her escape from the gangsters. Diana later accidentally switches the videotape of the drug trade with one of Jackie's cooking videos from a box of tapes. The mob, knowing that the tape is still out there, tracks Diana down to her home to force her to give them the tape.

Diana's tape ends up in the hands of Jackie's friend Richard, an officer for the city's police department, and his family. When Richard discovers the tape, he and his department launch their own investigation in the mob and gang case.

The gangsters search for Jackie but are unable to capture him, so they destroy his home and kidnap his girlfriend Miki (Miki Lee). Unauthorized to partake in the kidnapping issue, Jackie is told not to interfere by the police, but does not listen. Jackie is later captured, taken to Giancarlo, and forced into an unfair fight whereby Jackie's arms and legs are restrained with ropes held by the henchmen. After taking a serious beating, Giancarlo orders his men to kill Jackie at a construction site outside his home.

Jackie escapes and destroys Giancarlo's home by driving through it in a 120-ton mining vehicle from the nearby construction site. The authorities arrive, including Richard, but the police decided to state that they did not witness anything and that it was all just a gang battle, so Jackie goes free while the mobsters are arrested for possession of cocaine.

Cast

• Jackie Chan - Jackie
• Richard Norton - Giancarlo
• Miki Lee - Miki
• Karen McLymont - Lakeisha
• Gabrielle Fitzpatrick - Diana
• Vince Poletto - Romeo
• Barry Otto - Baggio
• Sammo Hung - Cyclist
• Emil Chau - Ice Cream Vendor
• Joyce Godenzi - Cook Show Audience (as Mina Godenzi)
• Peter Houghton - Richard
• Peter Lindsay - Grank, "Demon" gang Leader
• David No - Victor
• Rachel Blakely - Sandy, "Demon" gang member
• Aaron Notarfrancesco - Sanny
• Jake Notarfrancesco - Nancy
• Greg Jamieson - Priest
• Matthew Dyktynski - Cooking show Floor Manager
• Salik Silverstein - Cooking show director
• Lynne Murphy - babysitter
• Carla Bonner - cameo
• Karl Ajami - Giancarlo's Man
• Brad Allan - Giancarlo's Man (as Bradley Allan)
• Paul Andreovski - Giancarlo's Man
• Habby Heske - Giancarlo's Man
• Cameron Douglas - Giancarlo's Man
• Grant Page - Giancarlo's Man
• Paul Douglas - Giancarlo's Man
• David Baldwin - Giancarlo's Man
• Brent Houghton - Giancarlo's Man
• Ian Mall - Giancarlo's Man
• Dennis Christensen - Giancarlo's Man
• Michael John Noonan - Giancarlo's Man
• Darko Tuskan - Giancarlo's Man
• John Raaen - Giancarlo's Man
• Gary Shambrooke - Giancarlo's Man
• Mars (extra)
• Andy Cheng (extra)

Jackie Chan Stunt Team

• Brad Allan
• Chan Man-ching
• Andy Cheng
• Johnny Cheung
• Rocky Lai
• Nicky Li
• Mars

France "Mister Cool" poster

Box office

Mr. Nice Guy opened on Chinese New Year, 1997, up against director Hung's own Once Upon a Time in China and America. Both were box office successes, but Mr. Nice Guy was the bigger of the two, making HK $45,420,457 in its Hong Kong run.

Box office for Mr. Nice Guy was less impressive in North America, where it opened on 1,463 theatres on March 20, 1998. In its opening weekend, it grossed US $5,250,704 ($3,588 per screen) on its way to a total of US $12,716,953.

Awards and nominations

• 1997 Golden Horse Film Festival
  • Winner: Best Action Direction (Wing Cho)

• 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards
  • Nomination: Best Action Choreography (Wing Cho)

See also

• Jackie Chan filmography
• List of Hong Kong films

External links

• Mr. Nice Guy at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• Yatgo ho yan at the Internet Movie Database
• Mr. Nice Guy at AllRovi
• Mr. Nice Guy at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Making of Jackie Chan's 'Mr. Nice Guy' at the Internet Movie Database