KineticSeoul
"Addicted" is a story about two brothers that live in the same house with a very good relationship, while the older brother is a nice and caring husband to his wife the younger brother played by Lee Byung-Hun is a carefree guy who is into racing. But things come to a drastic change when both brothers get into a car accident on the same day and the tragedy leads to both brothers into a coma, except the younger brother wakes up while the older brother is still in coma and things start to make a drastic turn from there. It's a somewhat boring film for most part since there is nothing innovative about it except the twist at the end which isn't much of a payoff either. Everything is just too slow and it felt like it dragged longer than it should have, nothing about it was really entertaining. It isn't even that smart of a film or thought provoking and it seemed to depend way too much on the twist near the end, and if your a movie vet it's sort of predictable.5/10
zoe_smith
Perhaps scoffed at by Western movies, the idea of reincarnation and second life is in fact a common theme in Korean productions. No surprise when it rears itself again, then...Knowing in advance what was going to happen after I read a plot summary elsewhere, I was so disappointed in how the plot consequently unfolded. There was so much potential for suspense and drama - who was the younger brother? what was his motive? how had he gone about assuming a hidden identity? - but it didn't materialize until the very end. Why couldn't the director have turned this into a great movie and used more subtle nuances combined with more staggered chunks of revelations to the mystery that was unfolding? Arrggghhh! This movie will probably only please Lee Byung Hun fans. Western audiences will probably loathe it as it doesn't fit their cultural expectations of how a movie should unravel.
Xiayu
An old idea given a new spin, this film ponders the idea of a living person possessed by the soul of the dead. But it's not the Exorcist - there's no horror, no gore, just intricate, unsettling emotions and impossible-to-answer questions.Two brothers, Ho-jin and Dae-jin, are close but with the kind of tolerance and exasperation that comes from a lifetime of living with someone who is your polar opposite. Ho-jin is a carpenter who is about to have an exhibition of his carefully crafted furniture. Dae-jin is a bit of a lout, races cars for a living, and doesn't really pull his weight around the house.They share a home with Ho-jin's wife, Eun-su. Ho-jin and Eun-su enjoy a special relationship, writing letters to one another daily and treasuring their good fortune at having found one another. On the day that Dae-jin is to race in a rally, Ho-jin, running very late, catches a cab to the speedway. Then disaster strikes: both brothers are simultaneously the victims of shocking car accidents. Both end up in the hospital in deep comas.A year later, we see one of them awake. Dae-jin opens his eyes, staggers out of bed and catches sight of himself in the mirror. The significance of this is not overdone, but the shot is held long enough to let the viewer know that it's important. He is released from the hospital and goes home to pick up his life. It's slow going - he is often confused and distracted, frequently falling into very long sleeps, and physically shaky. He begins to adopt habits; watering the garden, making elaborate dinners, building furniture, putting toothpaste on Eun-su's toothbrush in the early morning. This freaks Eun-su out - these are all things that Ho-jin used to do.It becomes clear that Dae-jin believes himself to be Ho-jin inside Dae-jin's body. The tension comes from the fact that, as he tries to convince Eun-su of this by revealing facts about her that only Ho-jin would know, the viewer is also likewise convinced. The question - is soul possession possible, and if so, is Ho-jin really living within Dae-jin - which outside the confines of this movie may strike you as rather silly, is treated in all seriousness and therefore works a treat. The ending, which I will not reveal, is highly ambiguous and therefore fitting. The lead actors, Lee Byeong-heon as Dae-jin, and Lee Mi-yeon as Eun-su, are a perfect balance. Lee Byeong-heon in particular is quite amazing. His voice, his body language, his facial expressions, are all noticeably different when the transformation from Dae-jin to Ho-jin takes place. Lee Mi-yeon has an ethereal quality to her that makes Eun-su's struggle to believe all the more poignant.At 114 minutes, this is well worth your time.
tun9
In terms of the narrative structure, like many korean movies, the filmmakers did not employ any innovative techniques at all, a linear narrative approach is presented. Everything is brought out plain and slow, as a result audiences may find some scenes boring. Although there is a minor twist at the end, overall speaking, the plot is not too rich or entertaining. Whether it's worth watching depends whether you have the time and patience.
