CAST:
Lee Byung-heon, Lee Mi-yeon, Lee Earl.
DIRECTOR:
Park Young-hun.
Having previously starred together in The Harmonium in My Memory, Lee Byung-heon and Lee Mi-yeon reunite for the stylish drama/suspense movie, Addicted. Lee Byung-heon plays Dae-jin, a handsome young man who lives with his older brother Ho-jin (Lee Earl) and his beautiful wife Eun-soo (Lee Mi-yeon). Eun-soo organizes concerts and events in the city while her devoted husband keeps their home and garden in order in between creating beautiful pieces of furniture in his artist’s workshop. But younger brother Dae-jin shuns the work, love, and responsibility exhibited by his brother and sister-in-law, preferring to tinker with cars and race on a local track. His life seems carefree, if not exactly happy, as Dae-jin’s indifferent demeanor is often frustrating to those around him in his lack of purpose. But fate takes an unexpected turn one day when Dae-jin and his brother experience separate, but simultaneous car crashes, a devastating double tragedy that leaves Dae-jin in coma. When Dae-jin awakes, Eun-soo brings her brother-in-law back home, where she has lived alone for the past year. As Dae-jin recuperates, his behavior begins to disturb Eun-soo. Dae-jin has now taken on the characteristics and mannerisms of his older brother, her husband Ho-jin. But even more disturbing is Dae-jin’s eventual revelation that he is not Dae-jin at all, but in fact Eun-soo’s husband Ho-jin, inexplicably existing in Dae-jin’s body. And as far as Dae-jin/Ho-jin is concerned, he is just as much in love with his wife now as he was before the tragic double accident, and he has plenty of intimate details about their marriage to make a convincing case that he is Ho-jin, as he claims. How is Eun-soo to respond to her brother-in-law? Should she accept that he is suffering from a mental illness, or believe that the soul of the husband she loves is alive in Dae-jin’s body?
In many films, a suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy the narrative without being annoyed. And in lighter dramas and romances, such as Ditto or Il Mare, to name a couple, going along with seemingly impossible details is made easier by the tone of the film. But in Addicted, the movie’s central premise of souls switching places if given opportune timing is more difficult to accept, given the more serious feel of the film. Because most viewers know from the film’s advertising that this soul-switching will take place, every piece of information that’s fed to the viewer before the accidents - every gesture, every character detail, every phrase - seems forced and unnatural. As a viewer, you can feel the set-up, and the feeling isn’t subtle, but more of a poking you on the shoulder to be sure to take notice of what’s going on so you’ll "get it" in the second half of the movie. I found these contrived details annoying and distracting, and because of them, I had trouble getting into a flow with the narrative.
Despite problems with the script and pacing of the film, the actors do a fine job with the material they are given. The female lead, Lee Mi-yeon, does a great job of portraying the vivacious Eun-soo, bubbly and distracted to the point of even forgetting her own wedding anniversary. But it’s Lee Byung-heon who really gives an outstanding performance, yet again. Although he doesn’t reach any new levels of acting in his career (at one point his catatonic expression looked like it could have been from footage in JSA: Joint Security Area.), Lee Byung-heon adds another solid performance to his growing list of impressive performances. Even when the scenes fall into the overly-dramatic, the two leads keep things from getting too sappy by the grace of their screen presences. In what could easily be the most melodramatic scene of the movie, Lee Byung-heon and Lee Mi-yeon deliver a slow, steamy, emotional sex scene. Every touch, every glance, and every movement are portrayed as having the utmost emotional weight attached. But if any male fans of Lee Mi-yeon are hoping to get an eyeful of her, they’ll have to contend with the "well-placed arms syndrome," which will likely leave them complaining that the love scenes dragged on far too long. But the ladies who appreciate the sight of Lee Byung-heon’s lovely backsides won’t be complaining. ;)
Visually, Addicted is a very appealing film, with lots of splashes of bright reds and apple greens in the beautiful sets for the film. The bohemian charm of an artist’s house came through quite well, with quirky details painted onto windows and furniture, and unique knickknacks placed throughout the property. Lots of nice touches of color are added to furniture and food, even if the details go a bit overboard at times. Those bright barn reds of the lawn furniture and the cute little decorations on the drinking glasses often leave the sets looking like ads for Pottery Barn.
Addicted is the latest in a string of Korean films to be slated for a Hollywood remake, yet to me, this film felt like a Hollywood flick to begin with. It had everything going for it except the script. Michael Petroni, scriptwriter for Ann Rice’s Queen of the Damned will be adapting and directing the Hollywood version of this film, so it remains to be seen if any improvements are made in the script.
