100 Days with Mr. Arrogant
Director: Shin Dong-yeob
Year: 2004
Rating: 5.5
Country: Korea
Well, my excuse is that I was in the mood
for something soft and cuddly and this film sure is that. Korean romantic-comedies
are of a type all to themselves. Silly as a pickle in a mayonnaise jar, insults
thrown around like currency at an exchange, a few whacks on the head, a bit
of crying, a drunken scene, melodrama, some laughs, many "you wanna die"
threats - but most importantly they have a whole lot of cute. A flood of
it. Like a tsunami. It comes at you in waves. Call it the My Sassy Girl Syndrome
that kicked these rom-coms off. It can sicken you unless you are in the right
frame of mind. I was and at least for half the movie I found it delightfully
absurd with a few outright laugh moments. Then sadly they fall in love and
love is rarely funny. All the cute comes from Ha Ji-won who would have gotten
an award if there was a category for Cute Expressions. Her face is in constant
motion - from pouts to snarls to total disdain and everything in between.
It is a Master Class in cute. She would make such a great pet. She
is also my favorite Korean actress along with Bae Doo-na.
Here she is 25 years old in real life playing
a high school senior. A very low-wattage one with an attitude. Her boyfriend
has just broken up with her on their 100 day anniversary - which I take it
is a big deal in Korea. I can't say I blame him because she is just a pain
in the ass. As she walks down the street she kicks a can and it hits Hyeong-jun
(Kim Jae-won) in the head causing him to crash his Lexus (nice product placement).
He tells her she needs to pay for it - $3,000 - which she doesn't have and
so she does an imitation of the road runner. But he tracks her down and makes
her sign an agreement that she will be his slave for 100 days. It should
be mentioned that he isn't much older than her, has an enormously rich father
and is as the title suggests arrogant. In fact, the Korean title is better
translated as 100 Days with an Asshole. She names him Prick on her phone.
He is also so cute that girls swoon as he walks by. I didn't. Ha Ji-won is
as much cute as I can deal with.
So he treats her like crap and of course
she falls in love with him. This film is not exactly a positive lesson in
life for women. She is an airhead who enjoys being a slave (nothing kinky
mind you - not even a French Maid's uniform) and gets the rich guy that all
the girls want. All you need do is make really really cute faces. This
was a big hit - a good date movie I guess - and I can picture all the teenage
girls going home and practicing her expressions in the mirror. And wondering
when that rich guy is going to show up.
