The unrest in Hong Kong has been going on for months now and shows no signs of abating. I’m partial to the opinion that instead of it being about actual freedom, the unrest is mostly being driven by economic anxiety and wealth inequality as more and more Hong Kongers find themselves being priced out of what they see as a decent standard of living. That makes for a pretty good lead-in to this film which is really about mediocre people are who find themselves on the losing end of society in Hong Kong and struggle to come to terms with it.

Lung, Suk-Yee and William are three friends who work as lowly technicians in a telecoms company in Hong Kong. Between an employer that treats them with contempt and unhappy private lives, they are each losers. Lung in particular is in an uncomfortable open relationship with his neighbor, a single mother with a daughter, in which he cooks for them and runs numerous errands but isn’t actually in a romantic relationship with her. The three are pressured into joining their company’s dragon boat team and find that their supervisor Tai is also a participant. The older Lung and Suk-Yee are initially reluctant to put in any real effort but under the coaching of the attractive Dorothy, all four co-workers eventually find meaning and satisfaction in the team effort. When they learn that Tai is also grappling with his personal problems, they bond with one another and though it doesn’t help solve their problems, the rowing activity does serve as a sort of temporary escape for them.

The theme here immediately brings to mind the Japanese film 100 Yen Love as it is similarly about a bunch of losers. Director Sunny Chan Wing-sun for whom this is his debut feature is to be commended for sticking resolutely to his guns. While the characters learn to cope with their individual problems, the film never offers them any easy solutions or happy endings. Lung cuts a pathetic figure as he works to please his neighbor while trying to be nonchalant about it. In fact, it hews so perfectly to the friendzone trope that it makes me feel that the film is a bit regressive. This is doubly true when we learn that William’s problem is that he gave up on his dreams to be athlete to please his girlfriend who doesn’t seem to understand the depth of his sacrifice. Still it makes for good drama and decent character development, especially when they are paired with Hong Kong cultural references like the dragon boat sport itself, how they pass around a pair of Andy Lau concert tickets for an increasing markup each time and Lung’s love for Chow Yun-Fat movies. That last reference is especially apt given that to Lung the character exemplifies masculinity, a quality that the film implies is lacking in Lung himself.

Unfortunately while 100 Yen Love is well crafted, Men on the Dragon is crude and clumsy. The silliness of its gags and jokes are very Hong Kong but detract from the seriousness of its theme. The characters magically transition from being resentful of being obliged to participate in the Dragon boat activity to being passionate about it without showing the audience how that came about. The film also relies too heavily on Francis Ng’s acting and his range honestly isn’t that great. The film has its heart in the right place but Chan’s directing skills aren’t good enough yet to make this actually good.

Artistically, this definitely isn’t on par with the independent films that we’ve seen from elsewhere in the world. Still it is one of the better Hong Kong films of recent years and it’s enjoyable enough. As I noted, I believe that the territory’s current problems are actually rooted in its bleak economic prospects for its youth and this film I think captures some of that. More such voices are needed.