January 14, 2021

What Happened to Mr. Cha?: And Does Anybody Care?

Full Disclosure: I watched Kim Dong-kyu's What Happened to Mr. Cha? because the trailer showed a repeatedly shirtless Cha In-pyo looking incredibly hot. There were multiple scenes in that trailer which led me to believe that this would be a movie filled with eye candy. Unfortunately, such was not the case as Mr. Cha, both the actor and the character, spends nearly the entire movie trapped underground in a poorly lit cave after the building in which he was showering collapses. Isn't this the classic genie curse where you get what you asked for and you regret that you didn't make your wish more specific. I should've said: "I want to see Cha In-pyo parading around shirtless in brightly lit environments." So how was the movie otherwise?

Odd. The plot really has the makings of a horror movie. The lead character is confined to a space so small he cannot even stand. No one hears him when he screams. His one contact with the outside world is limited to an assistant (Jo Dal-hwan), so incompetent that you fear the man's going to get his employer killed. And since the construction crew is uninformed of the trapped celebrity, they're endangering acts aren't careless so much as carefree. Is it funny? Never. Is this a comedy? You bet it is! But it's not a movie. More like a part of a movie that needs more scenes before it and more scenes after. And better lighting. And more shirtless Cha.

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