My best friend said, when I told him I'd seen this film, "Wasn't it written by Italo Calvino?" That's one of the best descriptions I can think of for how deeply imaginative, sly, and intellectually hep "Kung Fu Hustle" really is. I'm not usually the action flick kind. In the same night I also rented "The Farewell," a German film about the last days of Bertolt Brecht. That's more my typical fare: the quiet European character study of a great artist and the women who love him. I twiddled my thumbs through it after having seen Chow's mind-bending visual insights. Aside from the sincerity of the story--its good guy thinks he's a bad guy but becomes the best guy/hero theme--"Hustle" is a non-stop feast of turned tables, of the literal and figurative varieties. This is a wild and crazy action flick for people who don't like wild and crazy action flicks.