My Sassy Girl (2008)

Touches You

One of my all time favorites.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is now on my list of top ten worst movies, for both plot and acting. "Trite" is the word that comes to mind. The script tries to be funny -- (e.g., drunlalogue stories that are in actuality signs of alcohol abuse - passing out in a subway, throwing up on someone, going home with strangers, etc) -- and instead our intelligence is insulted. We don't believe she is cute and sassy but rather socially disruptive and annoying, and actually lacking in social intelligence (she wrecks her boyfriends interview, she is untrustworthy in public, she is dangerous in many instances, and high)...we don't find it funny, but rather a failed attempt to make "sassy" look like good times. It doesn't reach any kind of bar for humor that an adult would seek. Her "sassy" behavior seems really more about personality disorder qualities -- pushing and hitting people, appearing at all times unstable, creating chaos everywhere she goes, manipulating people, seeking the spotlight, expecting others to follow her outrageous commands. I acknowledge it must be hard to act in a convincing way when given a script that is weak and contrived (e.g., a strange yet wise old man in a few minutes time gives wierd / sage advice to Jordan in a scene trying to be deep yet failing miserably)...but still, the acting must be called out for its sophomoric and inexpert quality, from all participants. The movie tries to be deep over and over yet comes across more as an 8th grader trying to explain first love, in mono-syllables and short sentences. It just does not work as a story line or as a platform of any sort for these actors. I was disappointed to see it rates as high collectively as 6.3. This movie is representative of the failure of the style of "up-market' in our current culture...if you ask me.

Spoiler Warningin the beginning of the movie, "My Sassy Girl" appears to be your basic independent romantic comedy (which is usually told from the male perspective rather than the mainstream faire told from the female perspective). It never saw a huge theatrical release (if any), and it's getting dropped onto the DVD market with little fanfare. The film follows the weird relationship between the straight-laced Charlie Bellow (Jesse Bradford) and the free-spirited Jordan Roark (Elisha Cuthbert). They meet on the subway while Jordan is drunk, and Jesse brings her home to keep her safe. This starts them on the most bizarre courtship imaginable. Jesse wants a normal relationship, but Jordan would rather do things unconventional.

My Sassy girl turned out to be an 'okay' movie although I expected more from it. The way the story went had me rooted but eventually it failed to keep me occupied as there was a lack of emotions and the apparent emotional touch that should be normally present in any romantic movie, was missing. The separation between the two protagonists should have been a little more touching which as a matter of fact didn't happen because of the lame performance from both of them i.e. Elisha Cuthbert as well as Jesse Bradford ( No offense .... but I still think it could have been much better ). I have been told that the actual Korean movie from where this flick was taken was far better than this one as it possessed a lot of emotions plus a great performance by the actors. You would enjoy the movie half way through albeit eventually you would realize that wasn't a damn good reason buddy ! Plus I hate to mention it but the old man spoils the fun in the last moments wherein he deliberately mentions that the letter would bring her down in tears which suggested it to be a pretty good god damn letter, which it wasn't. So that was a party pooper which fell on real hard spoiling the fun altogether. Well although Elisha Cuthbert happens to be one of my favourites (I can't rate her movies just because of that eh !) I would give it a 5 on 10.

2 Stars goes for my 2 favorite actor and actress Bradford and Cuthbert. They at least deserve a praise since they have tried their best to portray the characters from the original. It might have been very difficult for them to work to meet the expectations of the fans of the original version.I watch this film (DVD) because I was curious how Hollywood would remake my one of the favorite Korean film "Yeopgijeogin geunyeo" which is the original and the best of all! The other reason is I like Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert.This remake really sucks! The film might have been good if I haven't seen the original in the first place. I think(in my own opinion)because western culture differ so much with Asians so if you let Americans do the humor of Asians it will not work as fine. Also the delivery of the lines and portrayal of the characters has a different impact when said and portrayed by Asians compared to Americans if the humor is intended to be portrayed by Asians for the Asian culture. But Yeopgijeogin geunyeo however happens to be funny and very good to other nationalities too.Hollywood must've done better or at least match the goodness of the original(which I think they never will) because this film is loved by most people.