Oldboy (2013) Review

There's actually a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff about Oldboy that are kind of fascinating to consider, at least to a film nerd like me. For instance, this was the first non-Neil Blomkamp directed film Sharlto Copley appeared in since 2010's The A-Team. Also, director Spike Lee apparently had a lot of conflicts with the films distributor FilmDistrict, a studio that released this over Thanksgiving 2013 to minimal promotion and only a 583 theater count.  And finally, this was the last movie FilmDistrict released as a studio, with several completed movies they already made like That Awkward Moment and Walk of Shame being taken over by Focus Features.

Normally, this is where I'd make some snarky remark about how "those facts are more interesting than the movie", but for once that's not the case. First off, I actually do find those facts kind of interesting, especially the one regarding this being FilmDistricts last movie (seeing their logo here was bittersweet), and secondly, the movies actually got some redeeming factors in it that keep it a watchable excursion. Its ability to be mostly engaging is down to Josh Brolin, who does a good job as our lead character, Joe.

Now, the primary plot of Oldboy concerns Joe being imprisoned for 20 years, during which his wife's murdered (a crime for which he's framed) and then getting out and seeking revenge. The screenplay by Mark Protosevich is sloppy, easily the movies weakest aspect, but it does have success at the start, when it nicely doesn't hold back in showing how terrible of a guy Joe is, especially when he gets drunk. Brolin really helps sell these scenes (or really, any given moment in the movie), and parts where he's being held in his room for years all by himself nicely recalled expert performances like Tom Hank in Cast Away. When he gets out, I was actually wondering if the film would become a Taken-esque adventure (I've never seen the original South Korean movie just for the sake of clarity), where he attempts to clear his name and get his duaghter back, which sounded kind of appealing. I mean come on, the promise of Josh Brolin kicking ass and taking names doesn't sound awesome to you?

 Unfortunately, the action moments are poorly handled, namely a sequence where Joe attacks a bunch of henchman. The whole thing is kind of a mess, mainly because it less recalls emotional connections to the characters than some boss battle from an overly hyperactive video game. The moment loses any impact due to how clumsily its handled, though on the other end of the spectrum a scene where Joe interrogates the man who handles the place where he was held captive just drips with gripping tension, as well as blood. Another problem with the movie at this point is it tries to give us a whodunit in terms of who put Joe away for all those years. The trouble is we don't get any culprits to choose from, since the movie spends limited time before Joe is put away for 20 years (and, minor spoilers, but to my knowledge, there's nothing in the opening that gives one any clues as to whose behind it all) and all the information necessary to figure out the actual culprit is given out in ham-fisted sequences during the finale. There's no way to get involved in the mystery since we the audience know so little, so the many sequences where Joe and Elizabeth Olsens character attempt to track down clues and locations just wind up being tedious.

Luckily, Olsen puts in commendable work here, as does Sharlto Copley, who constantly puts in good work even in garbage like Maleficent. And somehow, even though the scripts clunky, and some of the way Spike Lee handles action moments are similarly lacking, the film still manages to be interesting enough for the most part since the cast gives the endeavor 110%. I wouldn't say Oldboy is something even that good, but if you like the cast and the ads looked appealing to ya last Fall, there's worse movies to watch. But of course, there are much much better Josh Brolin movies to check out!