Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Purely Joyful Movie!

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Movie: Inside MenRating: 4/5Lee Byung-hun impressed me when I last time watched his action-thriller I SAW THE DEVIL, which happened to be one of the best South Korean films I had seen. Now he comes with NAEBUJADEUL, or better termed INSIDE MEN, a political crime/action film which has plenty of material to keep you engrossed.Not going into too much depth, I would just like to say that INSIDE MEN is really entertaining. For the first time I watched a 3 hours long movie with so much interest. Yes, it's the director's cut I watched. Long, but no dull moments. The performances of all actors, including my favourite Lee Byung-hun are excellent. He rightly won the best actor award for this movie.The film's visuals need a special appreciation as we hardly come across political thrillers with good visuals. Surprisingly, INSIDE MEN has terrific visuals that keep you engaged. The story and screenplay are excellent, the dialogues are too good. The action scenes are well filmed and executed. Cinematography is top notch and many beautifully filmed shots will be in your mind forever.Overall, INSIDE MEN is a film which is highly recommended. Needless to say, South Korean filmmakers prove themselves great yet again.

Or hacksaws, bricks, plant pots. Its seems that anything can be used as a weapon In Korean films. This one has corrupt politicians (is there any other kind) doing shady deal with a newspaper boss for re-election. Corruption is embedded deep in every corner. Like sauna rooms. Or hostess bars, where slimy politicians perform sex acts involving escorts and soju glasses. When an ambitious prosecutor gets on the case , he teams up with a crippled gangster (Lee hyung Byun) to break open the whole sordid business. It could have been so clichéd and this story has been seen many times over. Still. it has been directed with style. Recently I watched Asura as part of the London Korean fIlm festival, and i questioned why they would want to promote such a wrong-headed and pretentious film when they could have chosen so many others. This was a much better choice and a good showcase for the actor Baek Yun-shil. A word about the title: it really is all men, apart from a small part for Lee's actor girlfriend. It really is a shame that they didn't give her more to do.

Do you want to know more about Korean actors? Then this movie is exactly what you've been looking for. Including Hollywood-famous Byung-hun Lee, Korean actors in this movie presents overwhelming performances. However, this is the movie's strength and there's obvious downsides too (a lot). First, the storyline has a wrong tempo. Sometimes, it's too slow and sometimes it's too sudden. This causes a lack of suspense. Second, the clichés in this movie are quite troublesome. I don't know how foreign people would feel about them, but to Korean people those clichés are definitely overused and used only in one pattern in this movie. This makes the story quite predictable. Third, the message of this movie is in vain. The director should have given more thought about how to resolve social corruption or how to give an alert about it more effectively. Since the resolution shown in this movie is so simple (I won't tell more specifically. Just watch the movie), it sounds so empty. It just doesn't resonate in my mind Yes, in conclusion this movie is quite cheesy and has many flaws. But still, actors' performances are so amazing that they make this movie look well-made Crime/Thriller movie with authentic aura. Should you watch it? Well, if you are into Korean movies I would say 'definitely!'

First of all, lets discuss what this film does right.The build up of the relationship between the two protagonists is well structured and is an amazing reenactment of Korean male social culture and how friendship is built among Korean men in film. Jang-hoon (the prosecutor, played by Seung-woo Cho) and Sang-gu (gangster turned whistle-blower, Byung-hun Lee) both put in a great performance that really bring out the writing of their characters' relationship. However, as far as compliments go I cannot find any more beyond the character development and the performances of the two actors.Another positive comes with the choreography in a few of the fight scenes and the cinematography involved in delivering the sequences. A stand out moment is the night fight sequence involving Sang-gu. The first half of the fight are rapid cuts of close ups mixed with full shots and 3/4s - this keeps the sequence's visual adrenaline while maintaining a sense of space for the viewer. The real cinematographic magic happens after Sang-gu destroys the only bulb lighting the area and gives himself the upper-hand by fighting in the dark.The scene is lit (or not lit) to perfection, giving the viewer just enough detail through character rim- lights and silhouettes from stray background lighting to comprehend what is happening in the scene but dark enough that the illusion of fighting in the dark is never lost. The sequence is also shot as a long(-ish) take in 3/4s that gives the viewer a clear view of the scene. This is an amazing spot of cinematography that deserves a point of commendation.The remainder of the film is standard business as there is not much to complain but, equally, not much else to commend.The first two acts of the film could use another visit to the editing room as the movie was paced too slowly for its own good. With a running time of over two hours, this is a rather standard story that drags on for far too long. Even Taratino's Reservoir Dogs, in which elements of the storyline reveal themselves and develop in regularly spaced intervals, has a run time of 99 minutes.The twist on the twist aspect in the ending of the script is a great attempt to finish the film with a 'bang', however, perfect happy endings of a protagonists' victory are far too common to make it a surprise.Overall, this movie leaves a feeling of "something that could have been". A brilliant movie in parts, yes. But primarily a visit to the editing room and a writers' session short of being a great film.