2 Sep 2008

My Sassy Girl

Director: Yann Samuell

Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Jesse Bradford

Release: 2008-09-02

Another screwed-up Hollywood remake of an Asian film! After the dreadful The Eye and Shutter earlier this year, we now have the American version of My Sassy Girl, based on the 2001 Korean smash hit that turned the lovely Jun Ji-Hyun into an overnight star.

The Hollywood version follows the Korean storyline closely with Jesse Bradford (Swimfan) playing an ordinary geek who meets a cute drunk girl (Elisa Cuthbert) on the subway. He starts to fall for her but it turns out she has violent temper, forcing him into a borderline sado-masochistic relationship.

My Sassy Girl is directed by Yann Samuel, the man behind the extraordinary French romance Love Me If You Dare starring Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard. But he seems to have lost all manner of originality in his Hollywood debut as My Sassy Girl lacks the spunk and irreverence of the original, playing like an odd romance between two odd individuals who don't seem to know any better.

Skip the new version, buy a DVD of the original, and see why Jun Ji-Hyun is the star she is today.