Watched Coin Locker Girl (2015) last night. Pretty good movie. Not super-great, but I liked it for sure. The story of Il-young was interesting. Not too many surprises--I could pretty much tell you what the next scene would be (who gets threatened; who gets whacked; who gets away, etc.). But the characters were so interesting it kept me engaged. I was impressed by the way Il-young changed from a hardened, cold, gang assistant to allowing her softer and more feminine side to develop, even if that meant disaster for her personally. This goes into my "re-watch list." 3.5 stars.
Go-eun Kim for best performance by an actress in a drama! The androgyny! It's fascinating to watch Go-eun Kim's face drift back and forth between boy and girl. She wins just for that. The androgyny is used to good effect. Go-eun is basically a debt collector, killer, and harvester of human organs. In a flight of original storytelling she starts to fall for one of the people she supposed to rough up and collect a debt from. Park Bo-Gum is fabulous as the naive debtor who's oblivious to the mean-spirited world of the movie he's in. And up to this point we can't tell which team Go-eun's playing on, so the slow, very subtle emergence of a possible, and totally cute romance is a wonder to behold.
There is enough good in the film to offset the shortcomings
Watched it and liked it. I'm considering if this will make my top whatever list. Maybe not yet. Sucks how a movie has to have brutal scenes for it to make my favorites list. lol.
I'm quite divided regarding lll Young (Kim Go Eun). Well, on the first half that is. During the first half, she looked like a real woman pretending to be all tomboyish and that. Even with the short hair she sports, and the tough attitude she tries to act, she still looks a woman. That's where I wasn't convinced. It felt too acted and contrived. (Or maybe I was looking for MMA fighter body to consider her as boyish??) And then during the second half, when her real self is shown, is the big reveal. She's not a boy after all, but she really is a woman. I mean, hello, who wouldn't turn into a woman at the sight of Park Bo Gum??? lol. No seriously, her dramatic prowess was showcased during the second half. She was amazing as a tough girl with a good heart who was molded by her experiences.
The brutality here is not for children consumption so some scenes were a bit too straightforward for me. Speaking of children, Park Bo-Gum was perfect for his role. Then again, he's perfect at anything. He could sleep there and I'll nominate it for best actor award. lol. He was perfect as that naive innocent son of a debtor who thinks that a tomboy with a frightening look on his doorstep is there to give him flowers.
Kim Hye-su was really scary as the mother (her lion hair adds more to that). Which means, she's effective as a villain (or not). The story is engaging but the brutality is what will engage them more. If there's anything top-notch here (aside from PBG face), it has to be the music they used! All through out the film, I
heard the music. I felt them. They're very registrable and pleasing to the ears. Especially on the suspense/thrill scenes.
Overall, this is a strong film. I love it.
End of story. lol.
