MOVIE REVIEW : Wang’s ‘The Laserman’ Misfires

According to a fortune cookie handed out at a press preview of Peter Wang’s “The Laserman” (at the AMC Century 14), he “never misses because he knows not what the target is.” Unfortunately, the film itself misses--and Wang, creator of the delightful “A Great Wall,” doesn’t seem to know what his target is this time.

It’s an uninspired and largely unamusing, self-indulgent attempt to meld a routine romantic comedy with an equally routine thriller. The ethnic spin he tries to give his story seems merely silly; it would seem that Wang feels there’s something inherently funny in merely being Chinese.

Wang gets off on the wrong foot and never regains his balance. His hero is a New York laser scientist (Marc Hayashi) with the improbable name of Arthur Weiss, who is fired when one of his experiments costs the life of his assistant. This is hardly the stuff of laughter; at no time does Arthur, who is inexplicably cleared in the incident, show any remorse. In any event, he eventually lands a job with an outfit that immediately seems shady to us--though not to him.

In the meantime, he begins a frustrated romance with a young woman (Maryann Urbano) who is deep into Zen meditation and not at all into sex. Meanwhile, Arthur’s mother (Joan Copeland) is a kooky type described as possessing a Chinese soul in a Jewish body. She seems to hold a vague attraction for Lt. Lu (Wang), who’s investigating Arthur’s crooked employers. Everything about the picture, it should be noted, is pretty vague.

Skilled actress that she is, Copeland at least makes her presence felt, which is more than can be said for virtually everyone else. Since Wang has proven his talent on both sides of the camera, we can only hope that “The Laserman,” which does look good, thanks to cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, is only a lapse.