[Review] “Black Heart White Soul” (By Miriamfanz)
Black Heart White Soul <忠奸人>
Hong Kong TVB Drama 2014
Producer: Amy Wong
Genre: Modern thriller
Rating: 
Cast: Roger Kwok, Kristal Tin, Ron Ng, Louis Cheung, Waise Lee, Leanne Li, Lisa Lau
Review:
Black Heart White Soul is a fast-paced gripping thriller. It has an intense plot with a lot of unexpected twists and brilliant schemes. The story follows along in a logical way with all the parts closely linked together. The characters are intriguing and fleshed out. Each of them has their own ulterior motives, which serves as the main driving force of the series. The police are still made to look incompetent, but at least the lawyers know how to make a proper rebuttal this time.
The series makes the point that no one is completely good or completely bad. For example, the villains still have a good side, showing their love towards their wife, lover or daughter. And the “righteous” hero, Ron Ng, still uses morally questionable tactics to achieve his goals. It illustrates that there are plenty of grey areas in life; sometimes good or bad depends on the circumstances or perspective. I love the ending where there isn’t a sudden epiphany on the part of the bad guys and they all turn good.
Roger Kwok is the perfect fit for the role of “Matt”. He maintains a sincere outer appearance, while slowly letting his inner evilness seep through. I don’t know who else can do that sly smile as well as Roger. Kristal Tin’s role requires a lot of emotional scenes, which she handles well, but she was somewhat overshadowed by everyone else. Ron Ng is in yet another hot-headed police role, except this time he is an all-round jerk as well. He has the same facial expression throughout the whole drama, which is the exact same one he had in Ruse of Engagement. The only thing that changes is his hairstyle and not in a good way either.
Louis Cheung is an actor I quite admire. He has done a good job in every role he’s had so far and it’s no different in here. Leanne Li has improved as an actress; she was very into her character, especially in the last confrontation scene with her husband. Vivian Yeo has also improved, but unfortunately had a limited role to play. May Chan has a generally likeable character, but she is sometimes annoying for being so loud-mouthed. She makes a good couple with Ho Yuen Tung. As for Lisa Lau, to put it bluntly, her face was too distracting for me to notice her acting. Jason Chan had a minor role that disappeared after a few episodes, but even in that short amount of time, he manages to be the worst actor in the series. He acted nothing like a lawyer, let alone a hotshot one. Someone needs to glue his arms to his side.
The review is written by Miriamfanz, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com. Visit Miriamfanz’s blog!
I think the drama caters more to the younger audience. It was to pop-ish for me. But I like those last few sentences from Roger , haha. Nice review.
Hahaha I agree with the review, especially on Jason Chan
Haha…so true! And not just his acting (which of course was horrible), but also the way he says his lines. Perhaps it’s because of his accent — every time he said the name Marco (with his accent, it always came out “Mah-co”), I would cringe. Since his character was so minor, couldn’t TVB have found some other kelefe to play his role and spare us the torture?
I thought Ron’s performance was awesome. his best since EU.
similarity is the girl apparently gets pregnant, but turns out it was a fluke.
I know many think Ron didn’t do well in this drama or never acts well. But I don’t think everyone is blind. It’s pretty obvious the wooxen one is Kenneth Ma and not Ron. I would say Ron did pretty well in his emotional scenes and scenes against Roger. But sheis just a horrible actor and has no chemistry with him and he is just too good of an actor, he over shadows Ron.
I do think I’m inclined to give Ron benefit of the doubt. Betw him and Kenneth i really can’t decide who’s worse. Maybe Kenneth has a wider range but doesn’t mean he’s better. His standard styles of acting are – look blank, pout, scowl or act silly.
I totally agree that Ron is a better actor than Kenneth. Kenneth is limited to a few expressions – puppy lovelorn eyes, anger and i cannot really tell if he is sad or happy at times.
I would have wished for Vivien to have a bigger role.
likewise, she is so thin now, what had tvb done to her
the ending was not suspenseful enough imo, louis chengs chharacter shud have been faking to be mental and then there shud have been a gunfight seen with him, rons character and the triads
Hot headed roles are awesome think Ron played this hot headed role really well
Seems like the only TVB dramas I actually enjoy now a days are ones that have Ron in it and I don’t think it has to do with me liking Ron’s acting. He’s just lucky enough either to be paired with great actors like Francis Ng or Roger or lucky enough to be casted in a drama with good story line.
Agree Ron is pretty lucky getting put into good drama and getting to work with good actors now his filming with Anthony wong
It was funny when Louis went mental and saying he is the king of the world
Loius and Leanne really shined in this series. I like their stories and scenes the best; most entertaining. Roger, as always, did very well and convincing as Matt. Love him in it.
So glad I’m not the only one that’s too distracted by Lisa’s look lol. Idk what’s wrong with her face. Not trying to be mean or ugly to her, but her face looks alien-y. Too much botox or surgeries? Idk, jusg doesn’t look natural. It doesn’t help that she was paired with Ron and vice versa. I disliked and skipped their scenes throughout the series lol.
Still I like this series. It’s different in a way that their protagonist is the antagonist. It’s fast past with hint of suspense and romance.
one of the better series this year.
I agree. I haven’t really watch anything of TVB for a long time and this series i actually finished it. The best characters for me was this Louis guy, hard to look at but he portrated his character well. The bald bad guy was also very good. Such a suitable look of a rapist, abuser and evil.
I would love Matt Yeung and the Vivian girl to have a bigger role too.
yes , agree so much on Lisa & Jason, both are painful to watch. Just feel anoying everytime Lisa & Jason appear 🙁
god, the moment she fell off the stairs. i was hoping for her imminent death….
Oh my goodness, I wanted to cut Ron’s stupid Justin Beiber fringe too.
Anyone notice their matching mother-son haircut? I caught them flipping their hair in the same scene. LOLs
Can’t believe sup jai didn’t get any credit
Being a actor is hard Ron needs to relax when his filming.. It what Raymond and bosco can do but Ron is stiff when his filming not even only his face even when he walks if he can looosen up he will do really well
I enjoy Louis Cheung and Leanne’s acting in this show. Louis is very versatile & he’s interesting. Leanne really did a good job- she looks perfect for the part as well.
Roger going evil was fun to watch- I was so afraid he’ll get caught all the time…haha
May Chan is funny just by being herself- she seriously should stop over acting- the loudness spoils it for me:(
As for Lisa, I thought her acting was pretty good for a new comer- well she’s at least better than Ron!
Still think Henry’s death at the end is too fake. Why would that 2nd car plough into a stationary car at such a high speed?
I think this series was over-exaggerating in terms of its intensity. The promotions and everything made it sound so intense, when in reality it was only soso compared to Last One Standing. For ex, they played super intense soundtracks when the scene itself isn’t that intense.
So many people complained about Lisa Lau. I agree she isn’t the best looking, but I honestly think her acting was good as a newbie. Much better than Gloria Tang, Eliza Sam, etc.
Best actor and actress should be fm this series 😉