Golden Slumber stars Gang Dong Woo, Kim Sung Kyun, Han Hyo Joo, Kim Dae Myung, Kim Eui Sung, and has a special appearance by Actor/Singer Yoon Kye Sang. Lee Hae Jun along with Cho Ui Seok revised the film originally based on the Japanese novel written by Kotaro Isaka. A Japanese film was made based on the novel back in 2010. Golden Slumber did pretty well at the Korean box office as the film landed in the top ten that week, continuing to sell a good amount of tickets even after losing it's top ten spot. No Dong Seok directed the Korean remake.
A delivery man is set up as the murderer of the current president just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also seemed like a good target since he was hailed a hero by the media for his past acts. Now, he is a wanted man on the run from the people who framed him. None is to be trusted.
I've never watched the Japanese version of Golden Slumber so this might affect the way I viewed this film. Someone out there is probably screaming of the Japanese version was leagues better than the Korean version. That's an acceptable argument but I honestly bought Golden Slumber for the cast. The plot was the ribbon that tied the present together. This film starts off very good which can't be helped due to the subject matter. Punches are pulled pretty earlier to stir up excitement. Exploding cars and fighting a women in an extremely close space make you slide to the edge of your seat. Then you get to the point of the film where things slow down to give viewers a bit more expansion on different characters. Korean film makers sometimes lay on the emotions too thick and it caused Golden Slumber to suffer quite a bit in the middle of the film. I wish that the writers didn't think so inside of the Korean mindset box because it caused this film's intensity to fall down a slope that could have been avoided using clever writing. None watched Golden Slumber to see a bunch of friends bonding. We came to see the action of who framed dude and why. I will say that I saw the connection of introducing off of the fun history of the friends but it could have been done without changing a political crime thriller into a straight up bros before hoes Korean drama. Golden Slumber then picks up again right before it's conclusion. There's not much to nitpick at here since the same rhythm shown in the beginning of the film kind of returns. The conclusion got on my nerves a little because it should have ended excluding all the friendship scenes. The scene right before the credits had a very strong emotional depth even in the way it was shot. Everything should have ended there on a strong note. Only thing I needed to see was the credits rolling. However the director felt that Golden Slumber had to keep laying it on thick emotion about the friendship. We got it, now let it go please.
Let's talk about how Yoon Kye Sang was in this film for all of four scenes. I actually bought the DVD to support him and he's barely in the movie. His part was good while he was there if you exclude all the scenes of the past. Dong Won has a dopey demeanor depending on the character he plays that fit perfectly with this role. The character never loses his pure kindness through the film. Seeing him play two roles in one film just showed that he can act out characters who have two completely different personalities. It was nice to see Choi Woo Sik(Set Me Free) again after a long time of not seeing him in anything.
Golden Slumber isn't the best film or remake but some aspects of the film have a lot of heart. A few corrections in the script would have done wonders for this film. Check it out while not expecting a masterpiece.
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