Sidebeat

"Sidebeat" is TVB's release of another genre of cop films, though this series is a bit more quaint and focuses on part-time cops. The cast includes Wong Hei, Flora Chan Wai San, Jackie Lui Tong Yeen, and Elaine Ng Yee Lei. With the exception of Elain Ng, all three main characters work for the police force part-time aside from a regular job. Wong Hei's character is really not different from all his other roles--a morally rigid good guy who has a crush on a woman (Flora's role) who doesn't like him yet but, who we know he'll get in the end because of the tell-tale commercial. TVB seems to love assigning Wong Hei to play the type of guy who talks rapidly and non-stop all the time. While it's endearing in some films, it gets rather disappointing to see Wong constrained to the same character type.

Jackie Lui is the other male main character playing the son of a wealthy business man associated with the triads and who joined the part-time police force to flout his father. His role is a bit more interesting as he steps over the borderline of law enforcement--certainly more complex than the one dimensional personality of Wong Hei's role.

The love triangles in this series is predictable--Jackie with Flora while Wong and Elaine have a crush on the former two. It, of course, takes some time before they all realize their feelings for each other and to rearrange themselves with their true love-mates. No special spark between any two couples.

While I do not approve of series with outright messages of morals or "lessons to be learned"-- you should be able to experience it through the series!-- "Sidebeat" really did not have any purpose. It brings light into another department of the police force but just serves to show that most of them are doing it for the money and who want to take it easy. Focusing mostly on their time when they are off-duty or taking a break (to eat a donut--or a "bao" in this case) is not exactly interesting. Jackie's role is the only character that keeps the series moving as it concentrates on his conflicts and moral questioning. The other characters might as well be nonexistent.

Screenshots (TVB Copyrighted).