A Way With the Punch Line

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. The first thing you notice about Stephen Chow is that nobody notices him. Trailed by an assistant, an interpreter and a couple of publicists, Chow makes his way through the power-hour crowd doing breakfast at the Polo Lounge, past the tables of Hollywood heavies noshing on egg-white frittatas. And. Nothing.

In Asia, it would be a mob scene. Over there, Chow is, like, a Will Ferrell. Huge. Commercial. Relentless.

"Nobody's bigger," says David Desser, professor of cinema studies and an expert on Asian film at the University of Illinois who describes Chow as "the new Jackie Chan."

A former kiddie-show host who made his name in Hong Kong film comedies, Chow is the star-director-writer of the martial arts roller coaster ride called "Kung Fu Hustle," which broke box-office records in Hong Kong and is the subject of some serious love in early reviews here. (It opened in Los Angeles and New York two weeks ago on a wave of hyperbole, and premieres in Washington tomorrow.) The second thing you notice, when you sit down with him, is that Chow is a very reserved individual.

On-screen, he is a Pez dispenser popping out sight gags, as physically manic as Jim Carrey. But in person, Chow has a shy handshake, pillowy as a duvet, his face is serene, almost blank, his voice so quiet you keep leaning forward. He speaks pretty good English (when he gets stuck, his interpreter jumps in).

But the man is enigmatic.

Reporter: The audience is laughing during the whole movie. Really laughing . . .

Chow: So you think it's too much comedy?

Reporter: No, no. But I think people are responding to how you mix the kung fu and comedy.

Chow: Actually, I don't really think it is a comedy.

Etc.

When "Kung Fu Hustle" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, cinephiles hailed it as the Asian import that will break through to mainstream audiences at the mall -- a kind of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with booger jokes -- despite the fact that it is in Mandarin and Cantonese, with subtitles, and rated R. The reviewers cannot find enough praise to heap.