A film that might make you want to know the truth of who you are dating.
"South Korea, 2009. A few days before their wedding, veterinarian Jang Mun-ho (Lee Sun-kyun) and his fiancee Kang Seon-yeong (Kim Min-hee) pull over for coffee at a motorway rest stop on the way to visiting his parents in Andong, southeast of Seoul. However, when Mun-ho returns to the car, Seon-yeong has disappeared and is not reachable on her mobile phone. All he can find is a hairpin in the rest stop's toilet. From the mess at her flat in Seoul, it looks as if there has been a break-in. Mystified, Mun-ho then learns from a banker friend, Dong-woo (Kim Min-jae), that Seon-yeong had earlier applied for a bank account but had been turned down when it was discovered she had a history of personal bankruptcy dating back to 2007. Investigating her debt history, Mun-ho finds she had been using someone else's name and identity. He persuades his cousin, Kim Jong-geun (Jo Sung-ha), a former police detective sacked for taking bribes, to help find her"
This film is based on Miyabe Miyuki's 1992 book All She Was Worth. I'm currently reading the book so I won't reveal the differences between the book and this movie just yet.
Throughout the film we get to view flashback of the couple being together and eventually we get a more in depth look into Kang Seon-yeong's past. This film is a thriller that might be a really too real since this could happen in real life.
Jang Mun-ho (Lee Sun-kyun) is a vet with his own practice who is searching for his fiancée who disappeared at a gas station parking lot while the two were driving to his parents house. With no where else to go he contacts his cousin who was a detective and requests him to find her at any cost. Jang is a good man who loves what he does and keeps good people beside him. The only lose end is his fiancée who is a tad bit mysterious. He is the stereotypical victim, which means that he fails to believe any thing is true until he hears it from her. With that regard he can be quite annoying with his constant yelling. But any man in his position wouldn't know how to feel or what to do.
The man doing all of the work is none other than Jang Mun-ho's cousin Kim Jong-geun (Cho Seong-Ha). A man down on his luck with no job in sight due to being fired from being a cop for taking bribes. So when his cousin comes to him with case it is almost given him a new purpose in life as we see him get more involved as the story goes on. He is the one that chases down the leads, talks to people who knew Kang Seon-yeong and has to be the one to tell Jang Mun-ho everything he knows about the woman he loves is a lie. He is a dark man but we are able to see him go through a slight character change. Without him there would be no movie as he appears to be the protagonist rather than Jang Mun-ho.
Kang Seon-yeong (Kim Min-hee) is a mysterious woman who leaves her fiancée in the dust after it is revealed that she is in massive debt. Everything about her seems to be fake until we get to see the truth of the matter and get to know the real woman. She is a character that will make you feel conflicted since you don't know how to feel about her even at the end of the movie.
The cast was truly wonderful but I think it was Cho Seong-ha and Kim Min hee who stood out the most in the film. Cho Seong-ha surprised me in this film due to his overall presence. Kim Min Hee was wonderful but I felt like she was held back from performing as good as she could. Lee Sun-kyun was okay but I felt like they rushed with the design of his character and thus made his performance weaker.
Also, the film could have been a tad bit longer in order to tell the story better.
2/5
Cast
Lee Sun-kyun
Also Appeared In:
My Mother the Mermaid
Our Town
Romantic Island
Petty Romance
Kim Min-hee
Also Appeared In:
Hellcats
Cho Seong-ha
Also Starred In:
Fly, Daddy, Fly
The Executioner
Always
Commitment
Dramas:
Korean Peninsula
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