South-Korean director and screenwriter John H. Lee’s ‘ A Cut Runs Deep’ (1999) is a movie which is often unspoken about and hidden under the radar amongst South-Korean movie enthusiasts. Yet whilst Lee’s visually streamlined movie presented some intriguing themes within its notable Asian-American cast and certain ultra-violent scenes, ‘ A Cut Runs Deep’ could often fall victim to its cliche-ridden script.

The storyline is set in New York and focuses on half-Korean Ben (Alex Manning); the main character and narrator of the film. Ben works as a delivery boy at a dingy Chinese restaurant which he also resides in and during a particular delivery he ends up encountering a suave and introverted young man called JD (David Lee McInnis). There’s an oddly dangerous air surrounding JD which Ben can’t quite put his finger on but after taking a shining to the young male lead, JD ends up imitating Ben into his gang and leads his down a violent and destructive path.

Admittedly whilst the dialogue could sometimes feel slightly lacking during quintessential moments arguably one of the greatest standouts of the film came through main leads’ Alex Manning and David Lee McInnis’ onscreen performances- adding a touch of brutal humanity even during more generic moments of the series.

However where an ultimate downfall lay with ‘ A Cut Runs Deep’ was that Lee didn’t seem to be trying to add his own personal touch to otherwise overused genre of film . Naturally its evident that there were socio-commentaries in the storyline which were brushed over from economic and social injustice in Asian communities, prejudice and racism which can occur also for biracial individuals. However in a film where our main lead is stuck on the edge between his biracial identity and a seeming ticket of freedom out of his deadbeat job, Ben’s own opinions and character drive rarely seemed to reflect more profound reasoning for the existence of these themes in the movie with Lee executing these commentaries into more effect .

Naturally this resulted in the seeming chronicle transition between Ben being an “ innocent child” and a “ gangster” rarely feeling more impactful for viewers due to lacking scenes of being able to see the main leads’ development in more depth. Consequently Lee’s heavy reliance upon an an abundance of snipped and inauthentic “ gangsta”-style dialogue and poorly-developed stock characters ( “ the prostitute girlfriend” and the “ intimidating loose-cannon boss”) often create awkward and forgettable scenes for viewers. A low-budget admittedly did not necessarily give the drama a great start with filming advancement, but the dichotomy between imaginative and generic filming techniques by Lee became evident throughout the film, with an ending which didn’t seem to truly deliver its intended greater impact also.

Overall whilst not an unwatchable film with decent performances by our main leads, social commentaries towards issues which are still prevalent today and certainly should be given some praise amongst attempting to subvert certain generic stereotypes and cliches of Asian-gangster flicks of its time, Lee’s ‘ A Cut Runs Deep’ is a fairly generic gangster flick which lacks elements of ingenuity and memorability also.