A FRIEND IN NEED (2010)

I'm not even sure what the title of this film even is. The film itself says YEOUIDO ISLAND, but I couldn't find that anywhere online. I did find listings and a trailer for this film under the title A FRIEND IN NEED, so I'm going to go with that instead since it makes more sense. Either way, it wasn't a good film.

A loser dude is deep in debt to a loan shark. He's looked down upon at work by his co-workers and even his wife has lost all respect for him. Things are looking pretty grim for this sad sack loser. But then things suddenly turn around when his childhood friend shows up and after a long night of drinking he goes to work the next day to find out that his main competition at work was found dead. Murdered! Things take an even bigger turn when the guy he owes money to (and is pimping out his wife to pay off the interest!!!) turns up murdered and in the trash. Strange huh?

Not as strange as how a story with such a weak and unimaginative script could actually be made into a movie. The potential was there, but didn't happen. Not even close! I'm not giving anything away by saying there's a twist ending at the end, because if you didn't figure out the twist the instant the childhood friend character appeared onscreen then you have some problems. On the bright side, I did enjoy the acting. Everybody did a fine job and I especially liked the loan shark played by Kim Sung-Tae.

Anyway, A FRIEND IN NEED. Nice looking film, but the story is so simple that I thought it might be intentionally lulling me only to attack me with an awesome, mind-blowing ending, but no. It just ended and I was left completely disappointed. A year from now I won't even remember watching it.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006)

Set in 1984, THE LIVES OF OTHERS tells the compelling story of a German Democratic Republic Staatssicherheit (Stasi) officer Gerd Wiesler. He's in charge of secret surveillance on a popular playwright, Georg Dreyman, who might be harboring anti-GDR feelings. Wiesler cannot find anything wrong with Dreyman. Wiesler soon discovers the real reason for the surveillance is one of the high officials has the hots for Dreyman's girlfriend and wants Dreyman out of the picture. Wiesler's been in the secret police business for a long time, but even so (or maybe because so) he still has a small spark of humanity left inside of him.

I really enjoyed THE LIVES OF OTHERS and after watching it I'm anxious to read some books about the subject. I found the whole idea interesting, but I was really intriguing that the GDR officials, even though they were doing something as highly unethical as bugging a person's home, still felt it important that they actually get concrete proof the person is guilty of whatever it is they're accused you of. Why even put on the charade? Another thing I found interesting was after the Stasi raid Dreyman's home and wreck the joint (tossing over furniture, cutting open sofa cushions) they left him a card to report any damaged stuff! What's the point of that?!  Mind games?

I kinda went off subject, so I'll just conclude by saying TLOO is excellent and you should watch it. The subject is fascinating, the filming locations look very authentic and the acting by everyone is perfect. It's easy to see why it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. Hell, in my opinion, it's even better than THE DEPARTED which actually won Best Picture that year.

TROUBLESHOOTER (2010)

Kyung-gu Sol is a troubleshooter. Today he's on the case of a cheating wife, but when he enters the hotel room to take some pictures he instead finds a dead woman, a video of the murder playing on the television and the police on the way. Suddenly he gets a mysterious phone call telling him how to escape and that if he follows orders he'll be given the murder video that will clear his name. Kang fights his way out of the hotel, but now he's on the run from the law and that's just the beginning of his troubles.

TROUBLESHOOTER is great! Heart pounding action, funny dialogue (I loved how the police detective kept threatening to kill his assistant), great acting, nice camerawork, superfast pace, excellent supporting cast, but best of all: Kyung-gu Sol kicking ass. This dude is awesome! Highly recommended for action fans.