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.
