A workable blue-collar comedy in the wide-eyed Michael Hui manner, directed con brio in 1984 by the great Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China). Tsui shoots the cityscapes of Hong Kong to maximize their looming hugeness, and this adds an undercurrent of tension to the story of three loons (Sam Hui, Teddy Robin Kwan, and Tsui himself) who go to work in an instant-noodle factory. After numerous screwups and clashes with management, our heroes contrive to liberate the plant from the greedy clutches of a squad of middle-management "suits. " The viewpoint of the film isn't politically radical, though; if anything it advocates a return to conservative, Confucian values. Our heroes team up with the perky daughter of the good-hearted founder of the firm, and save the day by persuading this benevolent old capitalist to return. But there are some good comic set pieces on the assembly line, and a couple of flavorful "old-fashioned" character bits: a likable dumpling-shaped Mom figure who sniffles through creaky Cantonese melodramas on TV, and a coworker named Diva Ping, who warbles Chinese opera while her colleagues wince and plug their ears. Star Sam Hui, who was also a pop singer-songwriter, contributed the bouncy title tune. -David Chute.