Running Wild (2006)

I watched Running Wild because it looked like a Korean buddy cop movie, like Lethal Weapon, maybe. And it is, though they aren't buddies for very long (and the film isn't trying for any humor). Oh Jin-woo (Ji-tae Yu) is a straight-laced, dogged, by the book prosecutor, rather than a cop. Jang Do-young (Sang-woo Kwon) is a raggedy looking homicide cop who runs around like a maniac 60% of the time and beats up suspects constantly.

Both are, in their own way, dedicated to stopping crime, and this has, in its own way, kind of ruined their lives. Or maybe their jobs just demonstrate how their personalities ruin their lives. The two ended up working together against Yu Kang-jin, a crimelord Oh busted for tax evasion three years ago, who is no free and is doing a full court press to present himself as a reformed, charitable man (who will seek elected office). Oh is trying to bring down the entire organization, and link Kang-jin to the murder of another crime boss who went missing three years ago. Jang is after one of Kang-jin's killers, who killed his half-brother. Oh brings Jang on as much to keep him under control but gradually becomes more comfortable with Jang's methods as Kang-jin's influence continually throws up roadblocks in the investigation.

The movie is about 140 minutes long; it could probably cut 15-20. In the last half-hour there's a real sense the film is dragging its feet about getting to the conclusion, mostly to wallow in how badly things have gone for the protagonists. But the film has been showing us their lives weren't going well before this for a long time. The tendency for Jang to flip out and start smacking things and screaming about how they can take his badge at the drop of a hat undercuts some scenes later on. The guy responds to every setback, including his lighter not working, with a violent act. So him throwing a fit at a loved one's funeral doesn't carry much weight. Once Oh stops wearing a tie and stops shaving, that carries some weight because of how under control he's been in the face of setbacks up to the point.

Also, Jang's outbursts look almost ridiculous at times, a guy trying to damage something who has no idea how. If it was meant to convey his powerlessness in the situation, that he's ultimately flailing helplessly, it works, but it felt more like it was supposed to demonstrate what a loose cannon he is.

I don't want to just bag on the movie. I enjoyed parts of it. There are a couple of fights Jang gets into I really enjoyed. Especially the one at a driving range, where he just keeps going, aimed right at the one guy he wants, and all the goons keep bringing him up short. It told you everything you needed to know about him. Ji-tae Yu and Sang-woo Kwon have some decent chemistry. Oh admires Jang's persistence, but is stuck trying to keep him from ruining everything. Jang thinks Oh is wasting his time, but has just enough hope this will work that he honestly tries to help the best he can. Byung-ho Son, who plays Kang-jin, has this pleasant demeanor, even when he's not in the public eye. The guy who knows how the game will end because he's marked the cards. He doesn't need to get angry.

I like the camerawork most when it's just steady. It's less distracting when you're trying to read subtitles, or at least I don't feel like I'm missing as much. There's one sequence where the film uses that Hitchcock Zoom (from Vertigo), and then a minute later, does a shot where the camera rushes out a window and zooms to the ground where there's a dead body. Both things feel entirely out of place in the film, and ultimately distracting. There's a brief scene where Oh and Jang follow different trails to a night club and chat while they watch their target. I liked the lighting in that one.

There's a trend among the characters to a certain style of clothing and hair as things go bad. Jang is in it, Oh moves in that direction eventually, there's a former bodyguard who looks even shabbier than Jang. Seems correlated to people who have thrown away something of value, and they've fallen apart without it.

The movie could have been better with some tweaking, but it had some strong points.