My Wife Is A Gangster: Viewer Comments

If this film were made in the US during Hollywood's golden years, the cast might've had James Cagney, William Bendix, and Bette Davis with either Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda thrown in for good measure. As it is, this film has a good cast that's more than able to walk the fine line between drama and comedy. A girl-named Eu-jin hasn't seen her older sister since they were little kids. One day, Eu-jin gets a call that reunites her with her older sister. She's in the hospital and she's dying ( from what, we don't know ). The dying sister asks a favor from Eu-jin who, so happy to see her sis, is eager to comply. "Anything", says Eu-jin, "Name it". The favor: Get married and raise a family. While this might seem a little daunting for some girls, it proves especially so for Eu-jin. Eu-jin is the number two or "Big Brother" for the local triad family. She's tough, ruthless, and a formidable martial artist (all this is seen in the first 15 minutes of the film). After a series of missteps, which reminds one of "My Fair Lady" or "Pretty Woman", Eu-jin finds a husband-a Sammo Hung-looking civil servant in his late 30's who has no clue about his bride's shady life. Eu-jin has to really work at getting the hang of the whole domestic-obedient wife routine while at the same time prevent a rival mob, led by a man named White Shark, from taking over her group. This is a funny film-especially in the scenes where Eu-jin is getting a makeover and learning how to snag a man. The wedding is a hoot as well. The legbreakers tell the boss that they "had to close down five clubs" to fill the church with pimps, hookers, and other assorted low life. The scenes between the hard edged, severe Eu-jin and her older new husband (there has to be a 12 year gap between them at the very most ) on their honeymoon and in dealing with day to day life is funny as well. Some of the funniest scenes are when she's trying to have a baby. Hubby had to deal with a wife who hid herself in the bathroom on their honeymoon and at one point promised to kill him if he ever touched her without permission; now his wife is having sex with him all over the place at various times and places with almost limitless endurance. These aren't little bouts of canoodling with any follow-up pillow talk-these are all night marathons. They're also tastefully, and humorously, done. What kept me from giving this film 5 stars is that the last 15-20 minutes are very violent and dramatic. Where we had some light drama throughout the film now turns hardcore. It sort of sours what has come before it but it manages to work its way to an interesting resolution with how hubby deals with his wife's line of work - which I won't spoil here. Also, the second disc, which contains a very generous helping of special features, does not have access to any English subtitles whatsoever but, since the scenes involved setting up the action and special effects as well as outtakes, you kind of got the idea what was going on anyway. Altogether this was a fun, if violent, movie. What I also liked was that the Eu-jin's crime family is also well drawn with their own little scenes to shine in. Also, the soundtrack really rocks. Think of the music used in the fight scenes for the first "Blade" movie and you get the idea. Also, there's some Korean hip-hop thrown in which sounds VERY cool. Definitely worth watching. Again and again.