A Single Rider: Korean Movie Review| KoreanDramaLuvher

A Single Rider: Korean Movie Review

by: koreandramaluvher

Title: A Single Rider

Director: Lee Joo Young

Writer: Lee Joo Young

Producer (s): Choi Won Ki, Kim Young Hoon, Kang Myung Chan

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Release Date: 02/22/17

Cast:

⇓⇓⇓

The Lost: Kang Jae Hoon (Lee Byung Hun)

The Hopeful: Soo Jin (Gong Hyo Jin)

The Clueless: Ji Na (Ahn Soo Hee)

PLOT: ⤵

Kang Jae Hoon (Lee Byung Hun) works as a manager for a popular financial company in South Korea. However, the company is not doing well as he thought and made his clients to think so it collapses. This collapse immediately ruins the lives of both the clients and the employees. Jae Hoon takes the news extremely hard as he convinced his friends to buy into the company and it is discovered that he even used some of his own money to help the company. He looses everything when the company goes under. 

Jae Hoon takes the news extremely hard and decides to fly to Australia to be with his wife Soo Jin (Gong Hyo Jin) and their son who he asked to move there two years ago to learn English for better and more opportunities.  

Once Jae Hoon arrives in Australia, he meets Ji Na (Ahn Soo Hee) a clueless young girl who has

worked in Australia for 2 years with a holiday visa. She solicits Jae Hoon's help to help her out of a dangerous jam.

In the meantime, Jae Hoon discovers that his wife Soo Jin and son has adjusted to Australia without him. She has also changed. Sadly, Jae Hoon watches his family from a distance, trying to muster up courage to talk to them.









REVIEW & RATING: ⤵ (Click Here For My Rating System)

3⭐⭐⭐ - I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND

Although I love Korean Dramas and will watch mostly any genre, except scary and super scary, I do not enjoy Korean Movies. However, there are three K-movies that I told myself that I would give a try.               They are: Battleship Island, Cheese In The Trap: The Movie & A Single Rider.

Albeit, I have not watched Battleship Island featuring So Ji Sub and Song Joong Ki, and Cheese In The Trap: The Movie has not come out yet, I was looking forward to watching A Single Rider. One of the reasons is that one of my favorite Korean Actresses is in it: Gong Hyo Jin. I saw pictures about this particular movie early this year, different press conferences, and interviews all over social media and got over my DISLIKE of Korean Movies and decided to give it a try. Let's just say that I did not particularly enjoy it.

One word to describe this move is: DEPRESSING.

There is never a moment of happiness, elation, joy, or even peace in this movie. The movie begins in difficulties and ends in an even more depressed state. 

Lee Byung Hun's character is the protagonist in this movie. There are many scenes when he is not even speaking. If you are not paying close attention to this movie, you may miss the subtleties. Him also not speaking may be a bit boring for his fans. 

The good news is that Lee Byung Hyun does a solid job conveying this almost hopeless character. His emotions, his anxieties, his insecurities all surface in this movie and you have to give him credit where it is due! Oppa Byung Hun is a master craftsman in acting. He has a clear focus and you believe his character. I found myself feeling sorry for him too many times in this movie.

The truth is, I was not crazy about Gong Hyo Jin's character. Her character was under developed. I wish we knew more about her background. More of the reason she agreed to move to Australia with her son, leaving her husband behind. More of the reason why she ended up doing what she did (I do not want to SPOIL anything so I am being very careful here). More of the reason why she picked up playing the violin again. There are so many unanswered questions when it comes to her character that it will make your head spin.

The good news is that Gong Hyo Jin is also a fine actress. Even though her character was underdeveloped, she still did well in what she was given. 

There is a really good point in this movie. There was a sense of kinship between Byung Hun's character and Sohee. You could see almost like a father daughter relationship developing, almost as if what he wanted to do with his son, (ie. spend time with him, talk with him, eat with him) he was able to do it with Sohee.

One thing that I actually liked about the movie is that there is an unexpected plot twist. This twist actually had my mouth drop to the floor. 

I wanted to like this movie, but I found myself wanting something to change in the movie. I did not want him depressed, sad or anxious anymore. I wanted a happy ending, but alas that never came. I know that I should not rate the movie because I was sad when that was the writer's intention, however there was not even nuances and color in this movie. However, the plot twist and also Lee Byung Hun's and Gong Hyo Jin's acting saved this movie. Honestly, you could give both of them the newspaper to read and they would have you crying, laughing, and crying some more. 

What are your thoughts? Have you watched this movie yet? Based off of this Review, would you watch A Single Rider? As always, share your thoughts below. 

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