Among the most forgettable films over the past year is Gentleman, a refined story for a refined hero you’ll forget within five minutes of walking out of the theater. I took copious notes and still can’t remember Gentleman. I just re-watched a trailer and still can’t remember Gentleman. Oh, sure, there was a brief clip or two in the collection that sparked some brain activity (enough to trigger the idea that, yes, indeed, I had seen the film), but mostly I remembered nothing.
No matter what film you’ve made, that is never a good sign.
Let’s see if my notes can piece together this film – Ji Hyeon-soo (Ju Ji-hoon) is a quality PI. He’s asked to find a missing dog, which seems significantly beneath the dignity of a decent PI (and more a job for a local high school freshman), but our guy takes the job … and is immediately framed for murder.
“Come find a dog … get framed for murder” is pretty much the worst bait-and-switch ever (well, besides everybody suckered into voting for Trump, that is).
Ah, but Hyeon-soo gets off the hook, sorta, because he gets knocked out and wakes up in a hospital where nobody knows who he is, let alone can ID him as the guy wanted for murder. Seizing an opp
ortunity, he teams up with detective Kim Hwa-Jin (Choi Sung-sun) to get to the bottom of whatever went down.
There’s also an evil crimelord who tortures inferiors by hitting tennis balls at them. Not exactly pleasant, but … it beats most of the tortures I’ve seen out of movie crimelords.
My notes say Gentleman has a slick, Ocean’s Eleven feel. I don’t doubt it. Problem is it’s so slick, the film skids right out of memory and never returns. I’m left with a vague impression of smooth operations and deliberately mistaken identities, but not much in the way of clues as to what really went on in this film.
Confusing and forgettable is no way to entertain an audience. I don’t remember Gentleman being a bad film, but the fact is, I don’t really remember it at all. Maybe that’s my own fault. Maybe my faculties are waning. And maybe I can still remember vividly that I saw The Passion of the Christ in a double with Club Dread. I liked Club Dread better. A lot better.
There once was a PI Hyeon-soo
Hired to collect a dog or two
Gets framed for the big M
And has to piece “who is them”
Was he successful? I haven’t a clue
Not Rated, 123 Minutes
Director: Kim Kyung Won
Writer: Kim Kyung Won
Genre: I dare you to remember this film
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The writer/director’s mother
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Anybody forced to answer
