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Review
by Kozo: |
Gyeongdal (Cha In-Pyo)
is most definitely a fictional character. A fiercely
determined fellow, he arrives in Los Angeles chasing
his wayward girlfriend Jinnie (Kim Yoon-Jin of the
blockbuster Shiri) armed with only an address
and a basic understanding of English. Sadly, Jinnie
is nowhere to be seen, but Gyeongdal won't give up
hope. He visits every soju bar in town and
blows Jinnie's old high-school band whistle to find
his lost love. He's also thrown away his old Korean
life in hopes of being with Jinnie forever. To wit,
he will only speak in (poor) English, and throws away
the name Gyeongdal entirely. His new name: "Iron
Palm". His goal: to find and marry Jinnie. His
journey: incredibly silly and far-fetched, though
not without its charms.
Iron Palm gets his name
from the Shaolin martial art he practices. However,
he's adapted the art to modern times by shoving his
fists into a rice cooker filled with freshly steamed
rice. This is supposed to show us that Iron Palm has
incredible determination and resolve, and will refuse
to give up even in the bleakest of circumstances.
He certainly gets his chance, as he finds Jinnie with
a new boyfriend named Admiral Lee (Charlie Chun),
and proceeds to maintain his stance that Jinnie is
his one-and-only. He refuses to go away, and instead
of the likely restraining order, Iron Palm gets a
new chance with his old girlfriend.
Director Yuk Sang-Hyo's
comedy has a straight, subdued comic tone, which proves
engaging since Iron Palm is such a broadly drawn character.
His cartoonish determination makes him a likable character,
and seeing him interact with Los Angeles can be incredibly
funny. However, this all grinds to a halt as soon
as Jinnie and Admiral enter the picture fulltime.
The resulting love triangle relies on some far-fetched
situational comedy and some questionable characters,
which can only drag the film down.
Part of this is due to Jinnie's
difficult character. She's supposed to be incredibly
desirable (a quality which the attractive Kim Yoon-Jin
can handle), but her indecision can tax an audience's
patience. She strings both guys along in a drawn-out
series of comic mishaps, but the fact that she can't
choose either costs her sympathy points. Boyfriend
Admiral Lee comes off even worse. He may do the occasional
nice thing, but overall he seems like an incredible
heel and not someone that Jinnie should even consider.
So, why does she stick with him?
This leaves us with
Iron Palm. His character is inherently likable because
he's such a dope. He may practice a martial art, but
he consistently gets beaten up. And, he can't drink,
which means funny stuff aplenty when he downs some
soju. However, his one-note desire for Jinnie
can prove tiring too, especially since the movie clocks
in at two hours. As such, the situations get dragged
out to their inevitable conclusion, which invoves
numerous plot devices, including a soju mixing
contest, Las Vegas, a shotgun wedding, and Iron Palm's
quest for a working visa. One almost expects Nicholas
Cage to parachute in with a bunch of flying Elvis
impersonators.
Still, the performers
are engaging. Cha In-Pyo is likable and self-effacing
as Iron Palm, and despite her frustrating character,
Kim Yoon-Jin is fine too. The copious English dialogue
can be annoying (especially from Admiral Lee), as
it's uninspired and delivered stiffly, but the actors
do their best with it. Their performances are earnest
and occasionally a little overdone, which provides
a nice counterpoint to director Yuk Sang-Hyo's straight
comic tone.
In the end, Iron
Palm doesn't really amount to much. There are
questions of identity and belonging, but they're neatly
swept aside for the egregiously drawn-out romance
plotline. And, the manufactured and sometimes too-easy
plot devices may be annoying to some. Still, the film's
generous pace and engaging tone prevent outright manipulation,
and the comedy can be agreeable. Iron Palm
is far from perfect (and probably should have been
shortened by a few minutes), but what's left should
be enough for most people. (Kozo 2002)
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