Mr. Nice Guy (1997)

Movie Info

Culinary Arts to Martial Arts!

Jackie (Jackie Chan) is a popular TV chef caught in the middle of a crime…because he’s a nice guy.  When an aspiring television journalist named Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) captures a murder on tape between the Italian mob and the Demons, she makes herself a target.  Fortunately, Diana has the luck of running into Jackie who now has become a target as well.  Diana’s tape brings the men after Jackie and Diana and leaves them fighting for their lives as Jackie turns his culinary arts into martial arts for the battle.

Directed by Sammo Hung, Mr. Nice Guy (一個好人 or Yī Gè Hǎo Rén) is an action comedy released in 1997.  The movie was a success overseas but did not fare well at the U.S. box-office and is often found with other Jackie Chan films in collections.

Nice to meet you!

Jackie Chan has a pretty limited range, but he does this limited range well.  He is an entertainer and as in other Jackie Chan films, Jackie Chan is entertaining…it just isn’t his best script.

For a movie made in 1997, the movie’s story feels like it belongs in 1987.  With cocaine deals, gangsters, video tapes, and reporters getting the big scoop, the movie feels out of place even for the ’90s.  The story smartly keeps it simple with the missing tape essentially propelling the story along, but it probably is too basic for many.

Jackie Chan does a great job in the film.  The movie does have a number of supporting stars that are quite active.  Be it Jackie’s stand-in family which includes his fellow chef, his police son, and his children to Jackie’s friend Lakeisha (Karen McLymont), his semi-girlfriend Miki (Miki Lee) and the troublesome reporter Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick).  The director Sammo Hung also cameos as a bike rider caught in the chase.

Say goodbye to Little Jackie!

The stunts for the movie aren’t the most complex stunts for a Jackie Chan movie but there are some fun ones.  The opening scene with Jackie escaping the killers with Diana and the construction site scene provide the most fun…especially when you see how close Chan does get to that spinning table saw blade in the outtakes which almost always accompany Jackie Chan’s films.

Mr. Nice Guy is a rather typical Jackie Chan action film and fans of Jackie Chan will enjoy it.  It isn’t as hard hitting as something like of the Police Story films nor is it as thrilling as an Armour of God movie, but it is still fun…and that’s because Jackie Chan’s just a nice guy.

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