Crazy Racer

Crazy Racer
Crazy Racer
Traditional Chinese	瘋狂的賽車
Simplified Chinese	疯狂的赛车
Hanyu Pinyin	fēngkuáng de sàichē
Directed by	Ning Hao
Written by	Ning Hao
Starring	Huang Bo
Distributed by	China Film Group
Release date	20 January 2009;
Running time	110 minutes
Country	China
Languages	Standard Mandarin; Various Mandarin dialects; Hokkien

Crazy Racer, also known in some countries as Silver Medalist, is a 2009 Chinese black comedy film directed and written by Ning Hao and stars Huang Bo. It was filmed mostly in the southern coastal city of Xiamen.^[1]

Plot

The plot follows four seemingly separate stories that intersect and converge at points throughout the movie. It begins with the protagonist Geng Hao losing first place in a cycling race and subsequently being tricked into sponsoring an energy drink containing illegal performance-enhancing substances by corrupt businessman Li Fala, which causes him to forfeit the winnings from his silver medal. Disgraced and outlawed from ever participating again in the sport, Geng's coach suffers from a heart attack, prompting Geng to seek retribution from Li, who he believes is the cause. In the process of obtaining the money for his coach's funeral, Geng crosses the paths of local criminals, perpetually confused policemen and even Taiwanese gangsters.^[2]

Cast

Huang Bo
Jiu Kong
Rong Xiang
Jack Kao
Wang Shuangbao
Ba Duo
Xu Zheng
Wang Xun

Reception

The film garnered mostly positive reviews from the Chinese press although it has remained relatively unknown outside of mainland China.^[3]

Perry Lam of Muse praises Ning Hao's direction: 'the movie leaps from scene to scene with such an athletic deftness and comic inevitability that the many unlikely curves and switches in the plot and the same setups feel almost like the machinery of fate.'^[4]