Jack Lim and Phillip Keung go ‘All In’ in high stakes poker game of laughs and thrills
KUALA LUMPUR: In the game of poker, luck and instinct is everything but what if one had the power to tell if an opponent was lying?
A comedy film about family, truth and wealth, All In will usher in the Chinese New Year spirit. It stars Jack Lim, Phillip Keung and Namewee.
Lim stars as Cheng Jialang, a poker champion who can see through the lies of people but has trouble connecting with his loved ones.
The only man Cheng can’t seem to read is Wei Yifu (played by Keung), a cunning casino owner and the ‘Poker Tournament King’.
The two rivals decide to face off at the Asian Poker King Championship when Cheng unexpectedly transfers his powers to the naive happy-golucky Huang Xiaoqi (Namewee).
Cheng must train the inexperienced Huang and finally settle unfinished business with Wei.
The film also stars Yumi Wong, Yuan Teng and Singaporean actor Wang Lei in supporting roles.
The cast and director Matt Lai shared what audiences can expect from the film during a recent press conference.
“We tell lies in our lives daily. It might be true, it might be false. But what’s the truth? We must only tell in our hearts,” Lai said.
Although the film is centred around poker, Lim said the film is actually about relationships between the characters.
He hopes that audiences will be tickled by the film’s funnier and outrageous moments but also touched at the strong relationships between the characters on screen.
Keung who recently starred in The Goldfinger said that he became an expert in poker after filming All In and challenged those who thought they were lucky.
Keung (left) and Lim play sworn rivals who challenge each other to a poker championship to settle an old score. — Picture courtesy of Asia Tropical Films
Keung (left) and Lim play sworn rivals who challenge each other to a poker championship to settle an old score. — Picture courtesy of Asia Tropical Films
The veteran actor also said he relished his time filming in Malaysia and truly enjoyed the local food.
Rapper-filmmaker Namewee said that he was impressed by the size of the production and was excited to see how audiences would enjoy the film.
He also admitted he was nervous of his performance in the film playing the simple minded Huang Xiaoqi.
“In society, we can’t always tell the truth all the time. Telling lies is something we have to learn to live with,” he said.
“I can’t go and tell people that honestly their hair or shoes look bad, because sometimes the truth can hurt. That was the message that I wanted to show with my character.”
All In premieres in cinemas nationwide tomorrow. — Malay