A Bittersweet Life (2005)

The best way to describe Kim Jee-woon's crime thriller is Oldboy-lite. And yes, I'm talking about Park Chan-wook's masterful original, not the dreary and pointless Spike Lee remake. Perhaps that description does A Bittersweet Life a disservice however, it's a blast from start to finish, stylishly shot, ultra violent, without the emotional punch of something like Oldboy, or indeed the more recent (and fantastic) Ash Is Purest White (2018). Lee Byung-Hun is terrific as Sun-woo, who is asked by his crime boss employer to shadow his young mistress, to see if she is seeing another man. As you might expect, all doesn't go as planned, and one ill judged decision leads to a whole heap of trouble for everyone involved frankly. It's great fun, and it's very well made. 7.2/10