The Suspect (2013 South Korean film)
The Suspect () is a 2013 South Korean action thriller film starring Gong Yoo, and directed by Won Shin-yun. Plot. Ji Dong-cheol (Gong Yoo) was once one of the top special forces agent in North Korea, but after a change in political system, he was abandoned by his government while on a mission. He goes on the run, seeking his wife and daughter who were sold as slaves to China, only to discover their corpses. When he learns that an ex-colleague was behind their deaths, Dong-cheol goes on a vendetta for  revenge, defecting to the South to chase his family's killer. Now living incognito, he searches for his nemesis during the day, and at night works as a personal chauffeur for Chairman Park, a business executive with ties to Pyongyang. One night the chairman is attacked and killed by an assassin, but not before handing over a special pair of glasses to Dong-cheol. The South Korean intelligence service, a member of which frames Dong-cheol for the murder, goes on the hunt for the beleaguered former spy. The manhunt is led by Min Se-hoon (Park Hee-soon), a  colonel and drill sergeant with whom Dong-cheol shares a past, and Kim Seok-ho (Jo Sung-ha), the director of the NIS. Aided by a feisty documentary filmmaker (Yoo Da-in), Dong-cheol goes on the run again while trying to recover top-secret materials that his dying boss sent him to find. Production. Yoon Kye-sang was originally cast in the lead role, but dropped out after co-star Choi Min-sik left the project. Gong Yoo was eventually cast, and the protagonist's name "Ji Dong-cheol" is similar to the actor's birth name, Gong Ji -cheol. To create the right physique for his role, Gong went on a diet for three months to reduce his body fat. He learned the Russian martial art Systema for the film's fight scenes, and performed car chases, rock climbing and skydiving at the Han River without using stuntmen. The film was partly shot in Puerto Rico in April 2013. Release. "The Suspect" opened in South Korea on December 24, 2013. It was a box office hit, with 4.1 million admissions. The film's distribution rights was sold to seven territories, including North America, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India , the Middle East and German-speaking countries. Will Go USA screened the film in 15 theaters in the United States on January 10, 2014. Reception. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on eight reviews, with an average rating of 6.67/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The "Los Angeles Times" praised the film's "inspired and teeth-grittingly determined" set pieces. "The Washington Post" wrote that the film "should entertain any action buff," while "Screen Daily , a film journal in the UK, also gave a good review: the style of the action scenes is so explosive and immersive that the movie even threatens the reputation of the "007" series." "The New York Times" reviewed that the "guns-or-butter dichotomy" is "more resonant than you'd expect."