The Criminal Intelligence Bureau of the Hong Kong police was perplexed to know that Hong Kong stock exchanges while attracting high-profile investors was also a manipulation centre. A mysterious suspect called”Boss” was the man they were after. A company called “Feng Hua International” was identified by the Bureau and the team of Inspector Johnny Leung, cop Gene Yeung and rookie Max Lam were to infiltrate and install interceptive devices in the company. Such interception yielded nothing even after a month. But suddenly they overheard a plan to boost share price. Gene and Max who were direly in need of money forces Johnny to suppress this information from his superiors. These two decided to profit from this information by buying heavily on the company’s shares with the money borrowed from a loan shark. Johnny was furious when he learnt this but it was too late as money was locked in shares. As per the plan Feng Hua International shares skyrocketed such that trading had to be suspended. It was catastrophic as the trio could not sell their shares. So downcast were they that they abused each other for responsibility. Meanwhile, Johnny “ overhears” a dispute in the management. That the Charirman Ringo Low was planning to sell all his shares and the Board of Directors are angry at him as their interests are eroded, and they plan to assassinate him. They had approached “Boss” for help. 
Low’s life is in danger. If he lives he will sell shares and market will plunge and the lives of trio and others will be comprised. The conflict is triangular-money, future and justice. Amidst the chaos Johnny masterminds a plan to kidnap Low. They succeeded in the abduction . But the unexpected happens- the share market plunged again leading to price fluctuations which draws attention from the officials of the economy wing. They aborted the undercover operation under Johnny,s head. Johnny also “overhears” from his bugging device and to his dismay that an investigation has been ordered against the trio. The characters are portrayed by the famous Lau Ching-Wan as Inspector Johnny. Louis Koo as cop Gene Yeung and Daniel Wu as rookie Max Lam. Needless to say all these have fans of their own. They are Asia’s leading male leads and The characters are well depicted in what can be described as a melodrama. The show of money, the greed for it and the poverty stricken police officials trying to come out of the poverty line by encashing their secret information by using badges of police uniform, the conflicts of interests amongst them in a state of crisis, and the brainy inspector’s drawing up a Machiavellian scheme of kidnapping- spices up the film to keep the tempo rising. The cinematography have been well delivered amidst high-rise towers and a threatening bay downwards. All screens are well taken with cinematographic lens always having an eye for minute details. The creation of the character “Boss” is intriguing and add twist to the tale. Overall, Overheard has proved to be a box-office hit in the Asian theatres and is definitely worth going out of your way to check it out. Score: [Rating: 4/5]
