South Korean thrillers are amazing, that much is fact. From the hammer swinging, octopus chomping lunacy of 'Oldboy' to the obscenely violent and visceral 'I Saw the devil', they've been kicking the pampered backside of Hollywood's cookie cutter film industry for a good decade now. Sadly, the success of these movies (along with 'The Chaser', 'The Host', 'The Yellow sea' and more) has, in a way, conspired to make 'Say yes' a slightly disappointing movie in comparison.
To celebrate their anniversary, Jeong-Hyun takes wife Yun-Hie on a romantic road trip along the coast, however it's not long into their journey that the happy couple encounter the mysterious (and outwardly hostile) Em, when they back into him with their car. Using this as excuse to demand a lift to the next town, Em begins to show a dark side, openly threatening the couple, who soon realize that their lives could well depend on getting as far away from this man as possible. Unfortunately for them, Em has a sadistic game in mind and has chosen them to play it with.
If all of this sounds familiar, then you, like me, have no doubt seen 'The Hitcher', the seminal psycho hitchhiker flick where a magnificently evil Rutger Hauer takes a young traveler on a horrific and unforgettable journey into hell (figuratively speaking). This film shares a LOT of DNA with 'The Hitcher', from small details like the psycho's trench coat, to larger details, such as the entire plot, a couple of set pieces and much of the character Hauer so skillfully created in his movie. That's not to say that Joong-Hoon Park is not good as Em, he's excellent, genuinely creepy, intimidating and clearly mad as a box of dog dicks (this is one area where he manages to separate his character from Hauer's, who is SO evil that it seems as if he might be the devil himself, Em, on the other hand, is drawn as simply being utterly insane), there are just too many tics and line deliveries that seem a little TOO familiar.
Putting the possible plagiarism to one side, there is plenty to recommended about 'Say yes'. Both of the other two performances in this three-hander are excellent, Ju-Hyuk Kim in particular, as protective and devoted husband Jeong-Hymn, is not afraid to play his character as fairly unsympathetic for a good portion of the film, ignoring his wife's advice and actually engaging in this competition with Em, at least until the full scope of his plan (and his insanity) become clear to him. Sang- Mi Choo acquits herself very well too, despite a severely underwritten role, her character really only serving to keep the stakes high for the increasingly desperate Jeong-Hyun.
Director Sung-Hong Kim manages to maintain an air of tension throughout the film right up until the final 40 minutes, where a series of false endings kill the pace somewhat. Thankfully everything comes back together during the actual finale, it's grisly, shocking, intense, everything I expect from a Korean thriller, and makes me wish that the rest of the movie, which never really rises above being just 'good', could match it.
'Say yes' is a very watchable thriller, with fine performances, it's just a little derivative and a little too much like an American production when compared to other Korean efforts with stronger identities and a little more imagination.
