[HanCinema's Film Review] "Two Big Men"

There's a sort of brute elegance in the title to "Two Big Men" that very aptly encapsulates what this movie's about. Dong-beom (played by Woo Kang-min) is a big bully of a detective who uses his bulk to intimidate people. Kang-cheol (played by Jung Jong-woo) is equally big, but generally kind-hearted and so socially awkward it's hard to imagine how he got a criminal record. Together, they fight crime, one gaggle of goons at a time.

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What's neat about a project like "Two Big Men" is that it's an opportunity for plus size actors to actually act instead of stand around and look tough while more conventionally good-looking characters do all the talking. The real charm in "Two Big Men" is that Woo Kang-min and Jung Jong-woo are surprisingly good as a buddy cop duo. Neither are particularly all that clever, but that's what makes it funny when they bumble their way into yet another situation that requires punching their way out.

Beyond the banter, these men are also well-cast in that their sheer bulk actually makes it pretty plausible that they can take all these punches and still be back for more. I especially liked the cutaways during the bigger fight scenes. The antagonist starts off looking very smug, daring the leads to wriggle their way out of this jam. As the fight wears on, and the big men remain standing while the smaller ones don't, that smug look turns to one of concern. How many hit points do these guys have?!

The fight scenes in "Two Big Men" are like watching a boss fight in the video game. Every time you think the little guy has the upper hand, the boss switches up the pattern. What starts out as a straightforward fistfight can morph into judo, or improvised weapons, or in the movie's exceptionally comical climax, just using the force of sheer dead weight to prevent the bad guy from making an escape.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of "Two Big Men" is that despite almost all of the movie's energy deriving from the fact that the leads are played by big guys, there aren't any fat jokes, although there are some fart jokes. The boilerplate light action comedy storyline could probably have been done with more conventional actors. But "Two Big Men" is a case study in how plots are overrated. You can't write expressions of sheer comical horror just to sell incidental jokes.

Such is the power of the chemistry of the lead actors I found myself liking them despite never having a very good reason to. Dong-beom is a jerk, and Kang-cheol is a bit of a dope. At one point they have a petty row over the fact that they're both thirty-six years old. Neither has any real family that we see either, but who cares? Director Lee Sang-cheol knows that a person watching a movie called "Two Big Men" is expecting a movie where two big men punch large numbers of other, smaller men, and by golly he delivers.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Two Big Men" is directed by Lee Sang-cheol, and features Woo Kang-min, Jung Jong-woo, Lee Soo-jin-IV, Woo Sang-ki, Hwang Sung-ung, Jang Doo-kyung. Release date in Korea: 2020/10/08.

 

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