Tell Me Something (2000)

Lieutenant Cho's back is against the wall. Brought up on charges of police corruption, he's a heartbeat away from losing his career. However, a series of brutal murders -- linked by the fact that the arms, legs, and heads are interchanged on the bodies of the victims -- pulls him away from the charges as he's placed in charge of the investigation. As it turns out, all of the victims are former lovers of a reclusive artist, Suyeon Chae, and now Cho must face the secrets of her past to unravel the mystery of the present ... and, possibly, her future.

Drenched in an atmosphere of the best film noir, TELL ME SOMETHING is a superb 'whodunnit' that keeps the viewer guessing up until the very end. A cerebral combination of the police procedural and noir's best elements, the film presents a roller coaster full of suspects with an equal number of motives.

However, it isn't until the very last scene of the film that the true killer is revealed ... a clever twist that haunts the viewer to a repeat viewing for all the clues that were missed along the way.

Extraordinarily edited and wraught with suspense, TELL ME SOMETHING is not for the soft-stomached. The film boasts a fair share of blood and flesh scenes, shockingly simple in their construction but packing one terrific wallop visually. The performances, especially of the two leads (Han Suk-gyu as Cho and Shim Eun-ha as Chae), are dead on ... no pun intended. That's not to say that the film is perfect; there are a few clues that probably would've been handled differently, and one situation regarding a youthful neighbor of the disturbed Chae is a bit hard to swallow. However, the drawbacks are minor, and they do little to diminish the utter sense of dread and failure overwhelming Lieutenant Cho is the film's ultimate climax.

Watch it with the lights on. It's well worth it.

For all but the final five to 10 minutes of this film, "Tell Me Something" matches its American kindred spirit, the Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman thriller "Seven." It narrows down the focus by limiting the film to four major characters: Chae, two Detectives Cho and Oh, and Chae's closest current pal, Sung-Min. This allows director Chang Youn-Hyun to develop each character extremely well, and allows him enough time to grow the relationship between Cho, who is slowly falling for Chae, whom he has been assigned to watch.

"Tell Me" betters "Seven" in making the past play such an important role in the film. Each character's past, save for Detective Oh, is explored enough to set up their particular personality flaws, insecurities, and perhaps motivations. Cho starts off the film under investigation as to how he has been able to fund the care of his dying mother on his policeman's salary; the case is a tainted badge's shot at getting back its luster. Sung-Min has her own intricate past that somehow ties in to Chae. Chae's tangled web is the most important, mixing father issues, former lovers, and a penchant for dating talented, successful men, then going single again when the men become too aggressive. Each performance is top caliber.

The film's dirty, unlit urban landscape is excellently portrayed. The camera angles are cropped tightly enough to keep you paranoid and at the edge of your seat. The sound is selectively suspenseful, be it the biting music clips, or the footsteps and labored breathing of a character. Very technically sound, and on the same level as the top American efforts.

But then comes the film's final sequences. They are riveting, fast-paced and...ultimately confusing. I watched the entire film three times in a row, and the end sequences twice that; I still ended up having to go online to see if anyone, anywhere agreed with any one of the number of theories I had about the movie's ending. That didn't help. It's not so much a question of who the bad guy eventually was--that's answered in the film--but a question of who else was involved, why, since when...etc., etc. If you're easily frustrated by movies that force you to think through the plot again--be prepared to be frustrated. If you're a thinking man's movie watcher, bring some like-minded friends along, pay good attention, and try to solve the thing afterward.

It's still, I believe, a must see for all fans of a good grisly murder mystery in the "Seven" mold. A 3.5 stars would be a more appropriate rating if they had one; I'm just one of those people for whom loose ends are like a fishbone stuck in my throat. For those less bothered by that, four is all good.