Review | Lion Rock film review: Alex Lam plays paraplegic climber in whimsical true-life drama

Based on life of a Hong Kong rock climber left a paraplegic after an accident but who goes on to scale Lion Rock in his wheelchair, this is a playful comedy

Despite flashbacks to when he met his ‘soulmate’, it is scenes of climber’s wife (Michelle Wai) struggling to support the family that are the most poignant

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Alex Lam in a still from Lion Rock (category I: Cantonese), directed by Nick Leung. Michelle Wai co-stars.

Published: 5:45pm, 13 Nov 2019Updated: 5:45pm, 13 Nov 2019

3/5 stars

The inspirational true story of Lai Chi-wai, an elite Hong Kong rock climber who was left a paraplegic following a traffic accident in 2011, forms the basis of this oddly whimsical tale of love and resilience. Again showing the playful touch that informed his debut feature Get Outta Here (2015), director Nick Leung Kwok-pun has made a light comedy out of a premise far more befitting a gritty drama.

Lion Rock begins with the life-altering accident that sees David Ki (Alex Lam Tak-shun), producer Lai’s alter ego in the film, lose the use of both legs and be confined to a hospital bed. Ki’s immediate concern is not his condition but the awkward arrival at his bedside of his “soulmate” Cathy (Toby Leung Ching-ki) – the one that got away – ahead of his pregnant wife, Zoe (Michelle Wai Sze-nga), who understandably feels jealous.

Instead of dwelling on Ki’s misfortune, the early part of the film portrays with quirky humour the protagonist’s hospital encounters, ranging from his friendship with an eccentric fellow patient (Deon Cheung Chung-chi) sharing the same room, to the morphine-fuelled hallucinatory episodes during which he sees people appearing in the form of their spirit animals.

For a film inspired by a life-affirming experience, Lion Rock devotes a disproportionate amount of attention to Ki’s adolescent rendezvous with Cathy. Played by the charming duo of Kevin Chu Kam-yin and Angela Yuen Lai-lam in flashbacks, their would-be romance is cute to watch, but frequently distracts from the main story.