Stylish thriller that falls apart at the end

Rating: 7/10 (1 September 2008)

Interesting premise (man is locked away for 15 years by a mysterious organization and isn't told what he's done or how long he's going to be there), beautiful photography, good acting and a director with real flair combine to make a very good movie that could have been great if it didn't go off into outer space at the end.
The character Oh-Dae Su starts off as completely unsympathetic--a drunken, annoying, loud-mouthed, obnoxious jerk who's sitting in a police station after obviously having been arrested for drunk and disorderly. He's eventually released, but soon afterward finds himself locked in what at first appears to be a jail cell but turns out to be a fairly well-appointed room, complete with TV. However, he soon realizes that it's not any kind of government jail or prison; it's run by a mysterious private organization, and no one will tell him why he's there or for how long and, in fact, he never sees another human being in all the time he's there. What he does see is a news report on the TV that his wife has been killed, his daughter has been taken away and that he is the prime suspect in the murder, but he knows he didn't do it because he had been locked up in that room. It's not long before he begins to go crazy, trying to figure out why someone would go to the trouble of locking him up and framing him for his wife's murder. Eventually he escapes after having been locked in his "cell" for 15 years--or did he really "escape"? The all-seeing, all-powerful organization seemingly knows not only his every move, but knows what he'll do before he does. He meets a beautiful young chef in a sushi restaurant and moves in with her--but is she what she seems to be? Things snowball from there, and the plot twists, turns and surprises will have you going. It's been mentioned by others that this is a "nasty" film, but it's really not. There are some brutal violent scenes, but the "nastiness" is much more of an atmospheric nature. Although beautifully shot and brightly lit, the tone of the film is dark and oppressive (a nice contrast) and parts of it will definitely have you on the edge of your seat.
However, the last half-hour or so of the movie went completely awry. I won't say exactly what happens for the sake of not spoiling the ending, but suffice it to say that it will most likely leave you shaking your head saying, "What the hell is going on here?" However, even taking into account the disappointing last part of the movie, the film itself is still worth a look. It has more pluses than minuses, the actress who plays Mi-Do is gorgeous (that always helps) and has several not particularly gratuitous sex scenes (that always helps even more) and it does give you a lot to think about. If it wasn't for the ending, I'd have given it a much better rating than I did. Check it out.