2001 / Park Heung-sik > Two of Korea’s finest actors (Peppermint Candy’s Sol Kyung-gu and Happy End’s Jeon Do-yeon) in a romantic comedy? While an interesting setup, the script itself is often flaccid and tries too hard to be anti-mainstream. And that’s pretty unfortunate, because it’s not often you get actors of this caliber to jump onto a film of this sort. Often quite predictable and drawn-out, I Wish I Had a Wife tries to mimic the pacing and emotion of films such as Christmas in August and Someone Special, but ultimately crumbles into an overwhelmingly mediocre production. Recommended for fans of the actors, but no guarantees for those who like romantic comedies.
Category Archives: 2.0
Bloody Tie
2006 / Choi Ho > While promising simply due to its starring duo—Crying Fist’s Ryu Seung-beom and You Are My Sunshine’s Hwang Jeong-min—Bloody Tie ends up being a bloody mess. The premise is of a semi-crooked detective playing footsies with a dealer-turned-informant in a crystal meth-infested Busan. In theory, this could have unraveled into a terrific action/drama, however the muddiness of the plot, the opaqueness of the characters’ motivations and failure of the film to set a consistent tone combines into a rather wasted effort.
Kidulthood
2006 / Menhaj Huda > Flat-scripted and thick-footed, this loose London-based homage to Boyz n the Hood is ultimately cliched to the bone. While it’s plastered with slick style, it falls through in making the viewer care. Aside from the opening sequence, the script is messy with sequences that don’t fit with the overall schematic. Thrown in, they serve to distract the viewer and take up time that could otherwise be devoted to creating a better foundation for the core storyline. However, the shining star of the film is Aml Ameen, who plays the kid who “ought to know better.” Thankfully, the mystery of his character holds Kidulthood together until the end, and helps ease any itchiness one may have to press the stop button.
The Customer is Always Right
2006 / Oh Ki-hyun > There’s a very interesting concept hidden in this otherwise cliche’d film about blackmail. In a way it’s a gimmick, but one that could be utilized to perfection by a director with a different approach. Moreover, don’t avoid watching this film because of its posters: They’re deceivingly comic and unfitting to the feel and sense of the film.