How would you feel if you were out walking the city streets one rainy evening, blacked out drunk, puking all over yourself, and sleeping in the gutter?
How would you feel if you woke up the next morning in a hotel room, all cleaned up, dry clothes in the bureau for you, and no clue how you got there?
Now, how would you feel if for the next twenty years of your life you couldn’t find a way to get out of that hotel room? Would you like it? Yes? Well then I got a movie for you.
“Oldboy” is a remake of the wildly popular 2003 South Korean film of the same name. (“Oldeuboi”).
It tells the story of Joe Doucette, (Josh Brolin) an advertising executive who has a sweet tooth for booze and women. He is divorced and is the father of a three year old girl. A girl he doesn’t spend nearly enough time with.
Joe’s life is spiraling out of control after losing a major advertising client for his firm. He takes to the bottle hard… real hard. He is ripping through vodka like it’s nobody’s business. He ends up getting so smashed that he blacks out. But this most definitely isn’t his first rodeo. You can tell he’s been a booze-hound for a long time now. Let’s just say Joe’s a mess.
Joe wakes up from his bender the next morning and finds himself in a room with a TV, a dresser, a bed, and a tiny bathroom off to the side. Joe throws on some clothes and tries to leave. One problem, there is no way out. No doorknob, no windows, no phone, no nothing. The only way to even have contact with anything outside of that room is through a tiny, steel, doggie door that is only used to send him food… and booze.
It doesn’t take long for for Joe to realize that he has been taken prisoner. But for what? Well there’s your plot. Who did this to him? Why did someone do this to him? Is Joe ever going to get out?
Joe’s living in hell. His captors throw on the TV for him to watch, but the only thing they show him is the news and that his wife has been brutally raped and murdered. The world assumes that he’s the murderer, but they just can’t find him. His three year old daughter is all alone and he can’t do anything about it.
Joe keeps boozing while in prison, but after several years he has an epiphany. He is determined to someday get out, find his daughter, and clear his name. He will also find his kidnappers. He cleans up his act, sobers up, and after 20 long years, Joe gets out.
Are you beginning to think that maybe I have already told you too much? Well listen kids, I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of this complex and disturbing movie. The juicy part of this film begins from here. Now is where you start to find out about his daughter. You get to find out about his captor. You get to find out why he was imprisoned, and you get to find out why he was let out of his prison after twenty years.
And WOW! You get to enjoy a dementedly wonderful film.
There is more than just Josh Brolin in this film. (Although, he was absolutely dynamite.) There are some other wonderful actors that accompany him to help carry this heavy movie.
Samuel L. Jackson played Chaney, the man who was the manager of the prison. I guess you could call him the warden. SamJack is one of Hollywood’s greatest commodities. If I’m correct,(which I am) he is the highest grossing actor of all time. Just think about it, he’s been in “Jurassic Park”, “Pulp Fiction”, and the “Star Wars” prequels. That alone is an incredible box office bank-roll. And we haven’t even brought up “The Avengers” yet. (along with SO MANY other films.) But I’m off topic. SamJack was a bad mofo in this film. And although this movie probably won’t make a killing at the box office, it is another notch on his belt.
Elizabeth Olsen was cast as Joe Doucette’s nurse/helper when he is outside of his prison and in the free world. And she looks great. But it’s not just her looks that make her standout in this film, it’s her acting. To me, she seems to have the legs for the industry. She will not be a flash in the pan. Hell, she was hired to play the role of Martha in “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, and she was just incredible in that film. (She won a lot of awards for that role.) Look for her next in MY types of movies when she stars in next year’s “Godzilla” and 2015’s sequel to “The Avengers”.
There’s one more actor that I must talk about. The villian of the film. (actually, they’re all villians in their own little way.) His name is Sharlto Copley.
Copley’s role as Adrian was undaunting. He was to strike fear into his prisoner and he suceeded admirably. He struck fear into me also. But it wasn’t just the frightening, odd attitude he carried throughout the film, it was also the completely “out of wack” way his character’s brain functioned. I mean, THIS…MAN…WAS…TAPPED.
Now, Copley, as and actor in general? Well, he has the chops to play many interesting roles. I said the same thing back in 2009 about a little known actor from abroad named Christoph Waltz. Waltz brings a delicious flavor to his characters. You may love those characters or hate them, but you always love his acting. I feel the same way with Charlto Copley. I had no idea who he was when “District 9” came out, but I loved him… and I loved that movie. Same with “The A-Team”. I didn’t even know it was Copley until the credits rolled, but I loved his character portrayal of
“Howling Mad” Murdock. Most recently I saw him in “Elysuim” and I thought he was violently exhilarating in that film. Personally, I think he stole the show… And in “Oldboy”, he does not disappoint.
Spike Lee directed this film. As a fan of Mr. Lee, I can say that, once again you have made another great movie. I will tell you right now that my two favorite films by Mr. Lee are “Inside Man” and “25th Hour”…. Move over guys because this film is right up there with you two.
I’m not sure how well this film will do at the box office, but I surely hope it does good, because it deserves to. The story is great, the acting is superb, and the ending will…. Well, the ending will…. Hmmm, how do I delicately put this…. The ending will, um……. JUST GO SEE THE MOVIE!
Matty W. Kelley, A Seat Apart Productions, reporting.
Fun Fact: You may already know this fact, but I’ll tell you anyway. Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen… What you may not know is that Hall of Fame football player Merlin Olsen is NOT their father. (or grandfather… or great-grandfather.) As a matter of fact they’re not even related. But what Merlin Olsen was, (besides a great football player for the Los Angeles Rams) was a pitchman for FTD Florists and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
And now you know just a little bit more about Merlin Olsen…… You’re welcome.