From this point on, shenanigans like this multiply at a dizzying rate. Later on the highway, Cherie and Jim (Leslie Cheung) drive erratically in front of the van to divert attention from Jim’s parachuting onto the top of it once inside, Jim will be able to identify the proper container simply through smell. ![]() Cherie (Cherie Chung) distracts guards during the loading of the art onto a van, allowing her tiny dog to lift its leg on the crate containing the Modigliani, thus marking it. Joe (Chow Yun-Fat) spots a Modigliani in the Louvre and learns that it will be part of a shipment of art on loan for an exhibition in Nice. The way in which Woo launches “Once a Thief” sets the tone for all that is to come. They play a notably happy-go-lucky gang of big-league art thieves living in the utmost luxury in France, and their derring-do in Paris, the Riviera and later on, back in Hong Kong, become hilarious spoofs of intricate “Topkapi”-type heists and also elaborate safe-cracking jobs tossed in with Woo’s trademark razzle-dazzle chases, hand-to-hand combat and gun battles. Woo and his writers have come up with one ingenious gag and stunt after another to show off a trio of charismatic stars-Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung-at their most dazzling. With his zesty “Once a Thief” (at the Monica 4-Plex), fresh from the second annual Festival Hong Kong, John Woo adds comedy to his usual potent blend of sentiment and action to create one of his most light-hearted entertainments, a terrific mix of slapstick and sophistication-imagine “Rififi” with a Harold Lloyd/Keystone Cops touch.
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