A Bittersweet Life (2005)

Dalkomhan Insaeng or A Bittersweet Life (2005) is just another story of revenge. And believe me, it is the Koreans and the Japanese directors who have inspired Quentin Tarantino to make movies such as Kill Bill (2003-2014). Korean director Ji-woon Kim has not done anything exceptional in this cinema but just portrays the abuse of power and the rise of a common guy to the extremities to avenge his wrong-treatment. I think a lot of Bollywood as well and Hollywood movies are made in this fashion. Plus the Korean style of presentation of conversation between a disciple and the master as the background do prevails in A Bittersweet Life, too. Nothing more was required from the actors so one shall not expect exceptional performances, either. The music keeps playing in the background. I think its just to mellow down the mood. Overall, average movie.

My rating: 6.5/10

Layer Cake (2004)

One good thing about UK directors. They know how to make an entertainer. Layer Cake definitely revolves around gangsters and crimes but this ain't another story about some mob war or an in-and-out job of a wannabe or even any undercover agent. This is a simple story of a wrong-doer average guy who is pushed into circumstances from where he has to pull himself out, every time. You'll love the pace of the cinema. Small-time thrills, some good background score (especially it is awesome to listen Duran Duran's Ordinary World), crisp acting. That's all you need for a crime, thriller, drama to be. Two-thumbs up!
P.S. Watch carefully to find the name of Daniel Craig's character in the film.

My Rating: 7.55/10

Running Scared (2006)

Sitting home, looking for some adrenaline push, I do more often search for Action/Thrillers. Had no idea about the release of Running Scared (2006) way back then. So, I saw it recently. I agree that the plot is made out of circle. And to some extent, I give plus point to that. It may look that the way the movie begins, it might loose the plot and go wayward but then it comes to ground zero before the climax. Concept wise, there are hundreds of movies on the same line. Chain of events following, creation of confusion, good guy, bad guy, suspicious guys and all those crime/drama plots are there in the movie. To add up the spices, there are child artists and primarily the movie revolves around them. Now, though the movie has a mix of mob and cops but those who are looking for such neck-to-neck dramatic dialogues then this is not the piece for you. For me, yes after watching so many of such movies, the development of plot in the first 15 minutes did give me the hint about the main leads character in the beginning itself. The movie happens during one night only so that may seem strange, for it to be so many things in less than 10 hours. However, this also limits the scope of cinematography. Nothing special was required, so nothing magnificent has been delivered. No background score, as well.

I think there was not much requirement in terms of great acting and thus, I will not make any particular comment about the acting. It is one of those pastime movies which you see, enjoy and forget. Target it for those days when you got nothing to do.

My Rating: 6.4/10