Customer Reviews

My Sassy Girl

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've seen the original twice. As a native Korean, I loved the original movie. It's a laugh-out-loud movie but also a heart-warming romantic comedy, excellently done by the two main actors. A definite keeper.

I was very curious to find out that they've done an American remake of the film. As the original movie had a very distinct Korean culture, I was excited to see how they've turned it into an American film. I expected to see much change in the plot but surprisingly there were many familiar scenes. The scene on the subway and the games that the girl plays were all in the American version. Even the rose scene which was a significant part in the original movie was kept in tact. Unlike other reviewers, I was actually disappointed that they kept so many of the original movie. I'm grateful that the film makers showed respect to the original movie but they forget that the original movie was geared towards a Korean audience which is why the craziness of a cute girl works. In many Korean films, it is quite common to see a girl's charm manifested in her obnoxious behaviour and such. But I wasn't convinced of it in the American version. The girl just was really annoying and I was annoyed with the guy for taking such crap from a crazy girl.

I think the movie should've been more Americanized. It has a such a sweet story to it but the film makers' over sensitivity to the original movie was, in my opinion, a hindrance to recreating this film. Lakehouse is another movie that was adapted from a very well known Korean film. They kept the spirit of the original but changed quite a lot of the plot and even changed the characters a little bit, to suit an American audience and look how well that turned out.

When a film is being remade, although there should be some homage to the original, the remade movie should still be able to stand on its own. As for this film, if I hadn't seen the original movie, I would've given this film less than three stars.

Elisha Cuthbert stars as Jordan Roark and Jesse Bradford as Charlie Bellows, two apparently mismatched New Yorkers who randomly meet on a subway platform.

The packaging and parts of the movie stylistically say "romantic comedy." And there are funny parts, but not based on the now common gross gags or sexual double entendre. But the humor is not the core of the movie. Charlie Bellows is a typical romantic comedy straight man, so it's easy to see where viewers might be misled. Jordan Roark is not the typical inhabitant of a romantic comedy. In fact she's the mystery. What makes her so volatile and emotionally dangerous but compelling?

The movie was deeper than I expected with a real reward at the end. I couldn't take my eyes off of Elisha Cuthbert. The story builds somewhat slowly but the nuance is there in Elisha's characterization to explain everything in retrospect. I found her compelling. There was no mystery why Jesse's Charlie Bellows fell in love, despite the Elisha's manic behavior as Jordan.

It wasn't the romantic comedy I expected, but it was a rewarding, surprising and oddly compelling drama by the end. I've rewatched it several times and found additional subtlety, emotion and meaning each time. My Sassy Girl was much better than anticipated, and perhaps expectations play a role.

Those viewers that saw the original Korean version have vastly different expectations and apparently wanted the same movie in English, and didn't get it. Those that want and need a light romantic comedy would also be disappointed. If you're willing to ride along and let the movie develop on its own merits, there's more meaning and drama than meets the eye in the first half of the film.

Recommended. My Sassy Girl

I watched the original Korean version at least 20 times. It was with a little exaggeration in the middle, but deep and touching.

The remake, I can't even bear to watch it the first time. It feels like it has a lot of "acting" as if they want to "act like it is so". It is shallow and pretentious.

Try the original Korean version instead.

Ho hum.
I don't think anyone expected this to be as good as the original - but I think we all wanted it to resemble it's Korean counterpart.

I feel there were a little too many creative liberties taken... the story is a little bit far fetched- the acting wears a bit thin here and there- and the scenarios are entirely different. This was so distant from the Korean version that it was hard to believe the writers had watched it at all.

Vaguely humorous, a good effort at least, but definitely not as good as the first. :(

Maverick/Vertigo originally got high marks for deciding to remake a very popular Korean film of the same name, but the results were less than fantastic. The targeted audience of teen to twenty-somethings was obvious with two castings of the Bring It On actor Jesse Bradford and the popular 24 daughter Elisha Cuthbert.

The requests for this one were already pouring in because of the original piece, plus the director from the highly rated Love Me if You Dare made his next film. I'll skip the comparisons between the two films and just try this one on its own merit.

The storyline of two young strangers meeting in New York and falling in love appears quite forcefully after a novice storyboard coverage of the main character's early life. Our Cuthbert character plays the strange and mysterious rich girl with a damaged back story we know nothing about. Through the course of their strange meetings, dates or whatever you want to call them, all of the teens watching left the room within 20 minutes. I stuck it out to see if this dysfunctional relationship would become believable. It never really does, and as the love story grew painfully more boring and contrived, the middle-aged ladies gave up watching also.

The ending had some heart, but overall the film never materializes into anything enjoyable, believable or rewatchable. The DVD has absolutely nothing extra to it, so between there being no special features whatsoever and a disappointing love story, I had to give it the lower rating.

The French director may compose the movie in an unique matter, but felt a bit messy. His transitions were too off, sometimes quick and sometimes slow. The humor was a bit off taste. At times that's what made it feel slow.

And I must mention, good movies should almost never be remade.

This Hollywood version of My Sassy Girl is just awful: the casting, acting, directing, editing, and plot. The American plotline should have been more adapted toward something more of 500 days of summer.

If you are from the States, please watch the Original Korean My Sassy Girl and bear with the subtitles. Don't be xenophobic, there are some amazing movies out there beyond Hollywood.

In MY SASSY GIRL, Elisha Cuthbert plays Jordan Roark, an annoying and manipulative drunk who supposedly charms nice guy Charlie Bellow (Jesse Bradford) by ordering him around, passing out in public places and insisting on various "high-spirited" activities. None of this looks like much fun (and Charlie frequently tells his college roommate how un-fun it is). But Charlie can't help himself, 'cause, gosh-darn it, he's fallen in love.

What's the "painful secret" that has turned Jordan into such a hellion? It's not hard to guess. And it hardly justifies her stupid behavior, or Charlie's patience with her. By the time the "painful secret" is finally revealed, there's just time for some painful dialogue about "destiny" and a painful wrap-up that only underscores how stupid Jordan was to keep her secret for so long.

MY SASSY GIRL is a remake of what we're told was a "highly successful" Korean film. My suggestion: The US version would probably make more sense for English speakers if they dubbed in the original Korean soundtrack and left off the subtitles.

Wow... I loved the korean movie and I thought hey I loved it so I'll give it a chance but this was competely horrendous and it makes me sad that such a great movie was ruined. I really hope everyone just skips this movie and stick to the original.

*Spoilers Below*

Why does Hollywood feel the need to take classic non-American films and rape them until they're deformed beyond all recognition? It must be nice to make millions of dollars by doing nothing more than crapping on various works of art from other countries. I'm apparently in the wrong line of business.

First off, Jesse Bradford sounds like a weasel and gives a mediocre performance. Just watch his reaction after Elisha Cuthbert lies to his teacher - it's terrible. Cuthbert is your typical Hollywood actress under 30 years of age - very hot, but couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. Watching her try to be "sassy" is incredibly painful because at times her mannerisms are overly accentuated to the point where she looks like she's got a bad case of hemorrhoids. As far as supporting actors go, the guy who played the runaway soldier was dreadful, and the old man near the end was even worse. Ji-hyun Jun's performance in the original was no fluke. South Korea has at least 5 times as much youthful acting talent than the States. That's no exaggeration.

This is your typical Hollywood remake that reenacts a dozen or so scenes from the superior original in unimaginative, idiotic ways (ala "The Departed") in an effort to pander to the dim-wittedness and xenophobia of your typical American moviegoer who would rather slit their wrists than read subtitles. This is evident in the dialogue, which is way too cringeworthy for its own good. Every single line is opaque, thoughtless, and overly simplified to the point of sheer stupidity. Here are some direct quotes from the film:

1. "Death, man...death sucks!" 2. "I like you and the last three days have been some of the most interesting (if not painful) of my life. But my brain is hemorrhaging and my career is ruined and I just think it's better if we part ways." 3. "Who would be intrigued by a hot, mysterious, passionate, possibly bipolar, violent, drunken, arrogant, rude woman?" 4. "Whatever she was going through - it was beyond anything in my experience and beyond my ability to fix. I had no right to judge her. If I chose to stay with her (knowing the risks) all I could do was give her love and respect and see how the story would end." 5. "I'm sorry. He's just a guy my father made me go out with, but every second I was with him I was wishing it was you and that's why I called you tonight - I couldn't take it anymore. Charlie, I need you." 6. "Hey kid, is this a subway platform or your own piece of drawing paper?" 7. "You know what? I know that you really don't want to hurt me." 8. "Yessss, I'm free and I'm loving it. Train where are you. Wooo hooo. Choo choo."

Hollywood translation: "We resent your lack of intelligence, so we are apparently forced to lower the quality of this film by providing superfluous exposition on the part of the characters for the sole purpose of explaining every little thing to you. You are incapable of extracting emotional content from subtle mannerisms, symbolism, or even the slightest bit of indirect communication. Yes, you are a moron, but if we talentless hacks want to make money, we simply need the characters to verbally and plainly explain every little emotion, lest you become completely lost."

Am I the only one who realizes just how much Hollywood hates its own fans? At least 90% of their films are devoid of any and all subtlety. This is even worse in the case of remakes, because they must knowingly suck every ounce of intelligence out of the original film. Wake up people. You can cut the patronization with a knife. These movies scream, "You are an imbecile!" And yes, supporting them does make you an imbecile.

Oh, but that's not all. If the insipid, moron-proof dialogue weren't bad enough, this movie drops one of the most idiotic psychological twists humanly imaginable. Our two lovebirds decide to take exactly one year off so Cuthbert can heal her wounds, but she shows up 24 hours late because she needed one more arbitrary day for healing. That's beyond ridiculous. Only a Hollywood executive could think of something this mind-numbingly stupid.

The only halfway decent moments in this movie use concepts from the original. There's not a shred of well-executed originality to be found in this steaming pile of excrement. The only positives I can think of are a few pretty camerashots. Hence the 2/10 rating. The only comfort I have is that this vile garbage went direct to DVD. A small victory in the neverending battle against the cinematic dark ages that we Americans currently reside in. Cultural naivety, ignorance, repetition, and incredibly low standards seem to be the favored cinematic ideals around here as of late. However, I must say that the original Korean film is still nowhere to be found at your local video store. One might expect a simultaneous DVD release along with the remake. Such is unfortunately not the case.

People wonder why I generally hate Hollywood cinema as much as I do, but I ask you - my dear reader - how can I not? I don't like to be patronized by a bunch of talentless hacks in corporate suits who insult my intelligence by making a movie like this and actually expecting me to like it. Maybe I'm missing something, because everyone else around me finds comfort in this masochistic, self-hating existence. My fellow Americans may be flamboyant cowboys in terms of foreign policy, but in terms of entertainment they are the equivalent of abused housewives who keep coming back for more. Whether its ignorance or sheer stupidity, they just don't know any better.

May Hollywood burn in hell for all eternity. God knows they deserve it.