So the last time I saw this picture, Kevin Hart was abusing Bryan Cranston or vice versa. I’m not sure. The whole point is that a quadriplegic and a homeless dude form a symbiotic relationship. It’s an uplifting story, and now it’s Korean. So, naturally, it’s now a violent uplifting story.
Young-Ki (Cho Jin-Woong) is like a mob mascot. Or better yet, he’s the Korean Peter Griffin. He’s a minor player in a shark tank and feels this allows him to show up in track suits when his peers are in coat and tie. Stooge. Fool. Oaf. They all apply. His entire life is shenanigans and dreams of a higher tax bracket.
Naturally, Young-Ki gets busted for something that may or may not be mob related, but is definitely stupid. He gets lucky; the judge orders community service, which Young-Ki accepts because fines are beyond his pay scale. The service? Take care of Jang-Soo (Sol Kyung-Gu), a quadriplegic high-powered CEO living on borrowed time. Jang-Soo, of course, can afford any number of assistants, but likes the reluctant Young-Ki because –I’m guessing- he secretly wants to be abused for the remainder of his life. Knowing he cannot actually compel Young-Ki to act, Jang-Soo makes a deal that involves large paychecks and possible murder.
Leave to South Korea to make The Intouchables into Goodfellas. Sure, why shouldn’t an oaf caretaking a helpless invalid devolve into the Crazy 88 scene of Kill Bill? I mean, give me one good reason why it shouldn’t? OK, give me two.
Against my better judgment, I liked this version as well. I can’t say I bought the mob angle, per se, but the story is about 1) the transformation of a lowlife into a positive societal force (the last two versions transformed a delinquent family man into better provider in all senses of the word) and 2) an unlikely friendship. Man of Men works on both counts. We
see Peter Griffin slowly start to consider the choices he makes and we like these two as a unit. There is something about having a clueless doof around that makes everything you do better, isn’t there? So you have to wake up next to a drooling idiot from time-to-time? I mean, what housewife hasn’t been there, knowwhatI’msayin’?
In this version, Jang-Soo and Young-Ki are both Korean, which is actually something of a great relief. With both men sharing the same demographic, the film has managed to avoid the whitesaviorism inherent in the two previous versions (The Intouchables and The Upside). I love this idea of the symbiotic relationship, but part of it gets lost in the idea that any white man, no matter how helpless or mediocre, has more to offer than a person of another demographic. Nowhere is this false message clearer than the US Presidency. When both dudes are Korean, it doesn’t matter how it looks; go to it, fellas.
♪You know I can’t breathe without you
I can’t move without you
I can’t eat and I can’t drink
You really don’t want to hear what I think
You see I feel miffed that you suck
You’re one massive dumb f***
If you only knew what this felt like, Young
You’d be alarmed forever, too♫
Not Rated, 116 Minutes
Director: Kim Yong Soo
Writer: Kim Yong Soo
Genre: Didn’t we see this?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who loved The Intouchables but secretly wished it had been a lot more violent
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People without patience for billionaires or doofs
♪ Parody Inspired by “Can’t Smile Without You”
