Happy End (1999)

The cheating spouse theme has been done to death in Korean romantic drama films, but this movie is notable for putting the proverbial shoe on the other foot. Instead of the unrepentant, philandering husband it's the woman who cheats, and the man, a dedicated family guy and doting father, is left to pick up the pieces. As with every drama that deals with cheating you feel bad for the person being wronged.

The ever popular Choi Min-sik, of Oldboy & I Saw the Devil fame, delivers a solid performance as the scorned, emasculated house husband. The juxtaposition of gender specific traits in his character, nurturing femininity vs aggressive masculinity, was particularly well played in my opinion. It shows how, in the heat of passion, one can really act against type.

The reversal of stereotypical gender roles, especially in a strongly patriarchal society like South Korea, is always interesting to watch. I did enjoy the film, but can not score it higher than 7 because with the exception of the cheater being female, the storylines are essentially the same for pretty much every film I have seen in this genre. The movie is definitely worth a watch for Choi Min sik and reversing the role of who cheats, but don't go in expecting any clever twists. There are none.

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Excellent acting, unexceptional story

As the headline suggests. the acting in this film is generally very good, and the cast has a lot of stars like Jeon Do-yeon and Choi Min-sik who deliver characteristically excellent performances. However, the acting is really the only great thing about this film; the story isn't bad per se, but the story is about a very popular subject matter (cheating spouses) and delivers very little interesting or new takes on a common story convention. The movie is really not all that noteworthy. There have been many better films or series done on cheating spouses. As another reviewer noted, This film is more about gender roles and emasculation than it is about relationships between people, because the actual reasons for Bora (The spouse) cheating are a bit vague and her motivations for doing so are not delved into that deeply.

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