Saving Mr. Wu

The real-life abduction of actor Wu Ruofu (who appears as the cop in charge of rescuing himself; Andy Lau embodies him here) is the basis of this wildly fun flick. Jumping between the abduction, the interrogation (18 hours after the kidnapping), and the arrests, Saving Mr. Wu is as lean and mean as the sociopathic kidnapper Zhang Hua (played with reckless abandon by Wang Qianyuan). The ticking clock of a ransom deadline with murderous consequences if missed gives the film a breathless pace as the police race to connect the dots, while Wu races to use his acting skills to find a way out of his situation. The cat-and-mouse interplay between Zhang and his interrogators Xing Feng (Ding regular Liu Ye) and Cao Gang (Wu Ruofu), and the humane and touching relationship Wu builds with his fellow kidnap victim Xiao Dou (Cai Lu) anchor a film without an ounce of fat and one that has some serious acting chops on display.