"Stay broken, that's normal for you"
A Man of Reason had a strong cast that was dragged down by a generic story filled with coincidences and tropes. Jung Woo Sung and Kim Nam Gil endeavored to breathe life into the bland script with mixed results.Soo Hyuk is finally out of prison after 10 years. He has no desire to return to his criminal life, especially after he discovers he has a daughter. Chairman Park Eung Kook isn’t ready to let go of one of his best men and sends his minion Kang to observe him. Kang takes matters into his own hands and hires “The Washer” to take Soo Hyuk out. Things don’t go as planned when Soo Hyuk’s daughter is kidnapped.
The biggest problem with this film was that director and writer Jung Woo Sung employed tropes that were stale by the year 2000. Execution is all important when treading over old ground. It felt like he attempted to integrate elements from The Joker by having a psychotic killer and his even crazier moll stir things up. The overuse of explosives and an amusement park hideout were a little too on the nose. In the end, none of the characters were developed enough to care about.
Jung and his deep voice made for a believable reformed criminal if not a particularly menacing one. Kim Nam Gil brought the crazy as the sinister “Washer.” He also provided much needed comic relief. Disappointingly, Park Sung Woong and his long-haired wig only dropped by for a small supporting role. The Big Bad ended up being a whiny, incompetent, and jealous assistant. Kim Joon Han didn’t have the screen presence to pull off this poorly drawn character.
A Man of Reason had well-choreographed fights and car chases even when they veered into incredulity. Fans of Jung Woo Sung and Kim Nam Gil may enjoy watching these two spar and banter. Unfortunately, that’s about all Jung’s directorial effort offered.
27 November 2024
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Who are you mister?
Fist of all, this movie was right for my taste. It doesn't have the suspenseful plots and twists or the multi-layered story like other great Korean thrillers, but that's not necessary. Sometimes it's best to be simple and straightforward, and this movie is like that. Clear, short, atmospheric, with great characters and an enigmatic protagonist who doesn't communicate much with words but with his attitude and actions. In another film, we would have learned more about the context of the story and about the motivations of the characters, but here it is not necessary. That is exactly what heightens the interest of the viewer, who can conclude for himself who and what kind of people the characters he is watching are.Probably not all viewers will be able to immerse themselves in the film, but it kept me riveted and interested from beginning to end. The production and cinematography was great. From the characters, I liked the girl Inbi the most (young actress 류지안), she played her role very well, without much words.
And I'm very pleased with how it all ended, a bit absurd, but satisfying.
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A watch for absolute free time
I watched this movie with 2 aspects: For KNG and without reading the synopsis.The movie starts and after half hour, I am still confused as to what exactly is the plot-"Ah, 1/3rd of the movie is done and I still dunno what is going on."
Then, as the movie moves ahead, I realized, "So, this is it, I guess. Maybe what I guess is the whole point, there's nothing much".
The movie is good, with good action scenes, good star cast. The plot was too simple for me to understand that yes, this was the whole point. Maybe, I was expecting something more to happen. Suggestion: the story is as in synopsis, no suspense involved and this is no spoiler.
It has similar vibes as "time to hunt" starring Lee Je Hoon (except that one is still better now that I watched this one).
I guess such movies are not my taste.
Since I watched it for KNG, I enjoyed his character which though didn't seem a deadly killer, it still gave craziness which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I guess my ratings are mostly for him. I am pretty sure I am not watching it again.
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