For me, the signature moment in Man in Love — about a smitten debt collector (Hwang Jung-min) who's in hot pursuit of a financially compromised mark (Han Hye-jin) — occurs rather late in Han Dong-wook's movie. Their coerced, extended courtship culminates in a bizarrely poignant expression of devotion: a fart released while comatose. As ridiculous as this sounds, I cried when this moment happened because the act signified a tenderness capable of overcoming all. You might think that doesn't make sense and you might be right. But for some reason, the illogic of this kooky crime pic gets under your skin when you least expect it.
Is our reverence for love so heartfelt that we'd willingly accept the most absurd plot points as long as boy meets girl leads to boy marries girl? For one night, mine apparently was! I was willing to abide pop-up funeral processions, busdrivers with active dementia (Nam Il-woo), a terminal cancer revealed in flashback, and a do-gooder police detective (Nam Moon-cheol) who has a softspot for a violent repeat offender, recently released from the clink. As long as Hwang's puppy-dog eyes are pining for that bank teller, nothing seems far-fetched for me. If movies are supposed to be fantasies made real, then Man in Love is, just like its protagonist's wardrobe, flashy in the best way possible.
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