"Old Boy" is sick. Plain and simple. Of all the disturbing movies out there, this one takes the cake. If you decide to watch it, be advised, it's very disturbing. The closest analogy to "Old Boy" that comes to mind is one of Stanley Kublick's psychologically inflicting dramas, like "A Clockwork Orange." But even Mr. Kublick's dark, atypical films don't stack up to Director Park Chan-wook's repulsive "Old Boy."
The whole revenge scheme in "Old Boy" is wrong, uncivilized and unnecessary. It's unnecessary to put someone in jail for 15 years. It's unnecessary to cut off the tongue and yank the teeth out with a hammer. And it's definitely unnecessary to plot revenge of such mass scale. Boys will be boys. They do and say stupid things. Let's all forgive each other and run to the ice cream truck for some Klondike bar or drumstick ice cream cone. Let's hug each other and watch Transformers or Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings.
That is why society emphasizes good parenting. Without good nurturing and spankings, youngsters will turn into fanatical maniacs and spend too much time plotting evil instead of learning grammar and arithmetic. If every grade school bully end up plotting revenge such as in the movie, civilized society would be nonexistent.
The only thing Director Chan-wook succeeded in accomplishing with "Old Boy" is disgust viewers with gory scenes and a despicable incest revelation at the end of the movie. I'm sorry to say, but the Oedipus Rex ending doesn't quite work here. It is neither tragic nor heart-rending. It doesn't make us lament the madman. Instead, it makes the viewers sick and walk out of the theater.
"Old Boy" is a
F
