A World Without Thieves

A pair of thieves, Wang Bo and Wang Li, pull off a scam on a city businessman and take his BMW, then head west. On their journey they meet a young carpenter returning to his home village with his life savings. The man's trusting nature and open-handed honesty unsettle the couple, and they hesitate over whether to rob him. Other criminals are also travelling on the same route and have their eye on the money, which turns the trip into a contest over the carpenter and his savings.

Feng Xiaogang directed the film, the second of the thirteen features he has made in chronological order, following The Dream Factory and preceding The Banquet. The screenplay is credited to Lin Lisheng, Feng Xiaogang and Wang Gang, with Kuo-Fu Chen producing. Andy Lau plays Wang Bo and René Liu plays Wang Li, while Baoqiang Wang appears as the naive carpenter Sha Gen. Li Bingbing, Ge You and Zhang Hanyu round out the main cast.

Released in December 2004, the film runs 113 minutes and mixes action with drama, a co-production between Hong Kong and mainland China. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 156 votes, which suggests a solidly received title with a modest but engaged audience rather than a broad international following.