Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs trilogy was inconsistent. A downward spiral of quality and coherence married to a lack of clear vision and presumably the whirlwind success of the franchise. Their latest, Confession of Pain, is fortunately much closer in tone and control to the original Infernal Affairs and reunites the directors with their star Tony Leung. Leung plays a detective with a dark side, circled by the investigations of a previous, alcoholic colleague and the fate that may await him in the city of corruption around him.

Leung's performance is pitched nicely against type and as high-standard as we've come to expect. The actor expresses more range in a look than a thousand words and the sense of a controlled menace is a wonderful turn and a great achievement. Think Peter Fonda in Once Upon in the West. Only with glasses and more empathy (are the two factors related?). Where proceedings falter, however, is with Takeshi Kaneshiro's role as alcoholic drifter, Bong. The problem doesn't lie with Kaneshiro's work – his blurry-eyed turn is mostly convincing - it lies with the inconsistency in the portrayal of an alcoholic by the script and the chronology of scenes. At one moment a shrivelled mess and another a sharp-skilled detective capable of leaps and bounds, the drawing of the character can feel as authentic as slap-stick – a barroom brawl and the oddly pro-Bacardi ending prove particularly damaging to the overall effect of the film – and overall robs the integrity and subtlety the film cries out for.

Nods to the West – a car trunk shot and an oddly concocted soundtrack – indicate an intention for cross-over success but some of the cinematic seams that show, like a confusing opening car-chase/drive-home-with-brooding-overture and a strange, cartoonish love interest detract once again from any high-calibre aspirations.

Though not as high-concept as Infernal Affairs and probably not in-line to reaffirm the Hong Kong crime genre's walk of fame as dramatically as one would like, Confession of Pain manages to impress with it's face-off between two good performers and a largely entertaining narrative. The film is lean and beautiful too, which almost cancels out the short-comings. Almost.

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