I wanted to see this movie because of Lee Joon, his acting in this movie was brilliant, amazing, like let me stand up and clap, you just can't dinied that it was awesome.
i read some comments about this movie, that this movie is a mess, only beating up each other, sex and nothing more.
this movie is about how a fame can ruin a life, starting from nothing, becoming something, and in the end again starting from beginning.
if you want to see how good is Lee Joon, then you can watch it, but be ready for a lot of sex scenes and fights.
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The beginning scene and the ending scene are both too long and repetitive, to the point that they have no desired impact. This movie is about a rise and fall of an actor, so it makes a lot of sense to have these almost identical scenes to complete the message. But that theater scene is just way too vague and boring and it barely makes any sense. How I understood it was that Oh Young was talking to himself not the woman. In the beginning the director of the play told him that if he doesn't want to acknowledge his co actress then he should go talk to a mannequin doll that is... to himself.
He talks to the doll, imagines it to be the actress, he wants to go to the beginning and start over on a better note. "I wish we could go to how we were." He is talking to himself, he wants to go back to being himself and get free from the role he had been trapped into. The actress says in the beginning "If we get a chance, I hope we could do it again." So in his imagination he looks for her because he believes that she can help him. She also fell from her position and ended up on the stage of that theater. She was starting over and he was only starting. That's what Oh Young realizes only at the end of the movie when he mentally goes back to that stage. The script is about love, but Oh Young doesn't talk about love, he talks about himself and his own desires. "Getting back together and loving someone" is all about getting himself back to reality and learning to love himself. He finally sees himself in that woman. "I'm not that bad, see?" he tries to convince himself. That's why in the end he finally gets his role right, he finally understands what acting is all about. Not losing yourself but being what you are.
Oh Young is a narcissist and he has no control of himself whatsoever, when he gets into a role he really gets into it for good. After he leaves the theater he gets to play gangsters on the big screens and he becomes that gangster because he gets too immersed into his roles. His only role models were the cocky actors, show business gangsters, and his manager who tries to whore him around. Oh Young gets out of control and lives his life like there are no consequences of anything he does, he rapes women and hangs out with questionable people. He is bad yet I was left wishing that his character would have been darker. His only link to reality is his mother but since he Lee Joon doesn't get deep enough into the darkness the contrast between Oh Young who talks to his mother on Oh Young who has turned bad, that contrast is not strong enough.
At some point, Oh Young meets the gangster who almost makes him sell his life for something scary, Oh Young's cousin saves him, but apparently that was not enough for him to grasp the reality. By the way, notice that the gangster man was the only one who actually respected Oh Young, he is the only one who acknowledges the boy after his fall.
No matter what, Oh Young loves acting and even after falling down he gets up and starts over, even if that means becoming a punching bag again. But now we see that other new actor has become cocky too, immersed in his own fame. Everyone falls in this movie, everyone goes up and down except those on the top, the gangsters and the directors, they stay at their respective places. Actors are just tools to them.
For sensitive viewers, this movie might be too hard of a nut to crack. A lot of people were shocked that Lee Joon's character actually raped someone. Get a grip people, this is a movie about those kind of issues. Pay attention to the summary and warnings. Overall, I fount the script too messy. This film tried to be very artistic but tried too much thus failed miserably. The message was displayed too vaguely but not vaguely enough and at the same time too blatantly but too vaguely to be gritty in a cool way, there was no sensibility whatsoever. So instead of being cool the movie turned out lame. Nothing had an impact and everything just melted into a dull draggy boredom.
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Firstly, Lee Joon was amazing. From all variety shows I've seen with him and whole Mblaq he just looked like a complete dummy. But after this movie I've changed my mind- he is genius in acting. He perfectly portrays young and insanely-in-love-with-acting actor. There were many reviews that the whole plot was poor because of that scene with mannequin, but I believe that it shows to us how insanely brave the actor must be. How he has to live carried roles life.
The whole movie is followed by Debbiussy's Clair De Lune, which is my favourite song lately. I think it perfectly fits in the movie- same as lead human life, the song gets faster and lively and falls to slow and silent melody.
Most of people after watching this movie just talk about bed scenes and it's kinda not fair, because the whole movie deserves to be dicussed about. Actually, I've seen this movie five times already and I still think I haven't noticed all important details. And just focusing on those few scenes is pretty ignorant.
Talking about the movie meaning, I believe that it just portrays actors life- how high you can go and then, how low and miserable you can get. Actually, Joon portrays that human being, who can act like human at day and turn into complete animal at night. Saying that his role was completely out of his mind wouldn't be mistake. But it would be ignorant too if we wouldn't try to see another side- he was one of those people, who experience complete madness because of their insane passion for some subject. He was just insanely passionate about acting. In some point, perhaps movie was about actors, who empathize with their roles so much that it replace their real character with acted one. But that's just a random idea.
In summon, it's really worth to watch this movie. Cast, plot, music, i fall for all of those. If it's hard to understand this movie, watch it until you'll understand it because it has really deep thoughts in it :)
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You should know, the english names of these movies not make sense. First movie’s name can be translated as “Movie is just a movie” and this one’s name is “Actor is just an actor”. But they called it Rough Cut and Rough Play!! why!?
People talks about +19 scenes of Lee Joon but noone talks about his great acting in Rough Play I watched him in Ninja Assasin before and it was good for a rookie. Now he’s really great. You should really see this movie. There are +19 scenes but Lee Joon’s acting makes them like insignificant almost, kinda, not really, NOPE!!!
There are so many actors/actresses in the movie so you remember only Lee Joon and few others when the movie is done.But this doesn't mean they're bad. It's just they don't play important roles.
They use Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy which is amazing and totally suits the movie.
You should really watch this movie. No matter how much you try to describe this movie, that'll never be enough. Director, writer and Lee Joon made wonders with what they have.
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In my opinion, a good movie can become a great movie if the acting is really good. Lee Joon's acting here is beyond perfection. I'm not a fan of him as an idol but I think he is a great actor, and he did an incredible job in this film.
The story is ok, music is nice, I like the photography and sets, so, by any means this is a bad or dissapointing movie as I thought before watching.
Really, really recommend it.
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If this was the director's intention, he hit the bullseye. It felt uncomfortable. I mean, that's okay & all, but it was like being thrown the bones without much meat left on them. I found myself wanting more of an opportunity to be immersed into the scenes & into the characters themselves. To linger a bit, & connect with something or somebody. From beginning to end, it was like watching complete strangers, & while the characters were compelling, there was no invitation to learn about them in any kind of depth. I didn't know them any better by the end of the movie than I did at the beginning, & it left me feeling unsatisfied. Again, that's okay, too...but I still wanted more.
I wouldn't say this is a "bad" movie at all, though. Oh, wait! I know what it reminds me of! An old, wooden roller coaster! You get jostled & thrown around, slammed, it's bumpy as Hell & LOUD! She's certainly not as pretty as the new, quicksilver coasters of today, but she has her charms. When the ride is over, you definitely feel like you've been through something.
The intensity, which comes swirling at you from every direction...the pacing, the story, the world, the characters (most certainly the main character, Oh Young/Lee Joon), combines & morphs into it's own entity. It doesn't think to ask for permission, & it does NOT like being ignored.
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Unless, you are a Lee Joon fan; then you have to see this.
Watch an obvious virgin mimic sex acts that are beyond his scope of understanding.
The rest of Joonie's acting is decent with what he was given and all the other actors did as expected.
The story, not so original but well shot. The overall feel is like a low budget lifetime movie.
Like a pot of red beans that you just made and served up, though you know it would taste better the next day.
Maybe they should've waited til the next day or theweek after to get the editing right. Or just cut Joonie's sex scenes altogether.
Watch it because you're Joonie's fan and you want to see all his work; or his disappointing untoned butt.
Watch it because your bored and want to add a completed title to the list.
And then, don't watch it again.
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Pacing issue + unlikeable character made it impossible to enjoy, despite great acting of Lee Joon
I have very mixed feelings regarding this movie centered around Young Oh, a young rookie actor facing the tough reality of the entertainment industry as he rises to famedom. The story could have been interesting but I got honestly bored because of the huge pacing issues as well as the unlikability of the main character.Lee Joon is truly impressive in the role of Young Oh, especially knowing that it is one of his first big role, and a posteriori, it feels like it was decisive in pivoting his career from idol to actor. Despite the fact that he delivers a solid and convincing performance, his character remains unlikeable all along the duration of the film. I blame the script and not the cast for preventing me to care and root for the main protagonist.
The direction of the movie had some real good ideas, there are a lot of scenes that mirror each other as well as help the viewer to see the unstable mental state in which Young Oh is. The first part of the story was interesting but it got very repetitive and long because of the lack of suspense as it was very clear where the scenario was headed. The OST was average at best and the ending soundtrack was really an odd and bad choice.
I would not recommend this movie unless you are a big Lee Joon's fan and want to see the movie which really made him prove to the public his skills as an actor. Be aware that this movie can be pretty triggering as it is graphic, violent and with depictions of sexual assaults.
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