6ixtynin9 (1999)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Lucky Numbers

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

From the new Thai cinema comes this early, 1999 effort by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, who later went on to make the excellent Last Life in the Universe (2004) as well as Mon Rak Transistor (2001). It's a crafty, shifty crime film so pleasantly alive that it not only keeps us on our toes plotwise, but also steeps us so effectively in its lead character that the surprises come naturally. Laid off from her job thanks to an unlucky lottery draw, the oddly beautiful Tum (Lalita Panyopas) wakes to find a box of money on her doorstep. The mistake comes from the number loosely tacked on her door, a "9" that likes to swivel down into a "6" from time to time. Two gangster types enter her apartment looking for the money, and they wind up dead. Tum decides to dispose of the bodies and skip town. First she must obtain a passport, and unfortunately goes to the very man whose money is missing. That description barely introduces the plot, which grows more and more absurd, introducing more and more strange characters into the mix. Pen-Ek keeps a lid on things, however, presenting his comedy-of-errors as so deliciously deadpan that Tum -- who is onscreen at almost every turn -- barely utters twenty lines of dialogue.

DVD Details: I found a weird little easter egg on Palm Pictures' new DVD. If anyone else finds it and can explain to me what it means, I'd appreciate it...