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boredandtwitchy

Seoul, South Korea

boredandtwitchy

Seoul, South Korea
No Breathing korean movie review
Completed
No Breathing
43 people found this review helpful
by boredandtwitchy
Nov 10, 2013
Completed 2
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
A brief disclaimer before starting the review: I watched this movie in a theater with two of my girl friends without English subtitles. Why did we do this? Because we thought that seeing wet, half-naked man-boys would be able to sustain our interest for two hours despite our mediocre Korean skills. Imagine then how surprised we were to have reached the end to the movie and realizing that we had laughed, we had teared up a bit, and we had thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The story is not a complicated one to follow: Seo In Guk plays an orphaned teenager who once was a competitive swimmer but who quit after experiencing a trauma. This trauma left him unwilling, and perhaps unable, to enter the water. Lee Jong Suk, on the other hand, plays an Olympic-bound swimmer with the typical rich, overbearing, and distant father. Rounding out the main cast is SNSD's Kwon Yuri who doubles as the boy's mutual childhood friend and current "love interest" (in scare quotes because the romance was hollow and weak). The soundtrack of the film is most provided by Yuri, whose character is a hopeful on a Superstar K-like show, meaning that the music is bland pop-rock carried by Yuri's weak vocals. For someone in such a renowned pop group, Yuri's music moments were extremely awkward. Acting-wise, the cast did their job well. Yuri did her best to pretend to be an actress. Lee Jong Suk was his typical angst-ridden teenager (is there a single role this kid has where he isn't moodily listening to music through oversized headphones?). Who really blew me away was Seo In Guk. Yes, his character was a little over the top, but he committed to every moment, making for a hilarious and lovable portrayal of Won Il. As we were walking out of the theater, my friends and I all agreed that this is one movie we would watch again when released with subtitles. It was fun, a dollop of drama to add the right amount weight to the story without bogging it down, and a bit unpredictable, which is a rare thing in the wold of formulaic Korean dramas and light films. A definite watch, with or without subs.
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