My Sassy Girl

Yeah We're Nuts

I haven't really watched the original from start to end, so I can't say for sure how well this version was vis-a-vis the Korean one, which shot Jeon Ji-Hyun to prominence in the starring role. The Hollywood remake however, went straight to DVD, but you know that it's Uniquely Singapore that we give DVD releases a chance on our big screens. That said, I thought this remake wasn't as bad as it was made out to be, what with some screaming blasphemy, and calling it inferior.

Truth is, I was entertained from start to end, nevermind if certain scenes seemed implausible. After all, this is a romantic movie, and in the genre, if the man says he's gonna fetch a moon, he jolly well plucks it out from the night sky and delivers it. And if we're talking about implausible romance sequences here, then director Yann Samuell would be the right guy at the helm, after all, he brought us the French movie Love Me If You Dare.

Elisha Cuthbert takes over the role immortalized by Jeon Ji-Hyun, as Jordan Roark (whose last name becomes a running joke) the ditzy, crazy and perpetually drunk lass whom Charlie Bellow (Jesse Bradford) falls for in one random night where he saves her from potentially injuring/killing herself at the subway. So begins the abusive person versus the Mr straight-laced all round nice guy in comic routine after comic routine, which for the most parts, weren't exactly funny to begin with. And their outings all stem from her dictating where and what time to meet, in which he dutifully obeys, not knowing what's in it for him.

Maybe he's a wuss but I guess it stemmed from his being a romantic and genuinely wanting to do whatever she dictated, for the simple reason that he's smitten. After all, I guess who wouldn't, given her attractiveness, and the extremely strange circumstances, which do get explained, in which she behaves. But while both leads are good looking, they do lack a certain chemistry when with each other, making it look like a very forced meeting of lovebirds, in a very artificial way.

That aside, the movie does have its slick ending to thank for in weaving together their respective back stories, though they do detract and distract from the main narrative, and bring some attention to how beautiful those shots were made, in having to integrate seamlessly one scene to the next. And its concept of Destiny, and dealing with it, on one hand felt completely honest with its building of bridges to each other, of having to know it and to work at it, but alas the movie eventually fell back on what it had preached, opting instead to leave it to the stars, and a very quick and coincidental one at that, which you can see coming from miles away.

I guess for those who have not seen the original, we might be blown away by the story and revelation, given that Korean romantic movies/weepies do not come only at face value. However, having seen some Korean remakes, I would reckon that those who have seen the original will call this a travesty. The jury's still out however, until I get my hands on its Korean predecessor, and then I'll let you know what I think. That I believe I should be able to do so since this version has intrigued me to give the original another go.

Otherwise, this movie's still adequate for a decent romantic date. I did however, feel sorry for actresses who played the 11 Woman of No Consequence - sheesh, what a title!