Why in the world would a busload of holy roller missionaries from South Korea choose to "vacation" in a Middle Eastern country ruled by Islamic extremists in the midst of a war? "There are no tourist sites in Afghanistan," says one bearded, turbaned, gun-toting local, and I, for one, believe him. Also, my sympathies do not lie with Christian colonizers who are long on bible quotes and short on compassion. Welcome to The Point Men, Yim Soon-rye's not-so-thrilling thriller based on real-life events but devoid of real-life people.
When 23 Koreans are held hostage by the Taliban, smug Director Jung (Hwang Jung-min) sticks to the book, with no cultural insights while NIS Agent Park (Hyun Bin) plays by his own rules with greater success. A clownish Korean ex-pat Qasim (Kang Ki-young) is the only translator fluent in both languages but they inexplicably drop him from the team pretty quickly. Sound like a typical movie negotiating set-up? Now add cryptic leaders, shameless journalists, neverending traffic, and suicide bombers. "Our aim is to prevent killings, not protect our reputation," quips Jung. Neither objective will be fully met in this film.
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