Let’s talk about the acting skills of the protagonists first: The most brilliant performer in the film is Li Jiangxi played by Bai Yunzhi – a royal literary gall of an interest group, cruel and shameless, and all the qualities of this lackey are in Bai Yunzhi’s laughter and scolding manifested in it. The underworld gangster played by Li Bingxian and the grassroots prosecutor played by Cao Chengyou actually represent the lowest level of black and white. As far as the tension of the performance is concerned, Li Bingxian has well explained the gangster's mental journey of being a gangster at first for the rich and powerful, then being ruthlessly discarded, until being framed and blamed, and finally being imprisoned. The whole performance is very layered. As far as the film itself is concerned, I personally think it is in a rather awkward position. It is a story that aims to expose the intricate interests and entanglements between political figures, big business groups, gangs, and the judiciary. The standpoint is obviously to dissect the corruption of Korean society. The phenomenon of wind and class solidification. However, there are many movies with similar themes. Judging from the sharpness of the criticism, it is far less thorough than "Memories of Murder", "The Defender", "The Furnace" and so on. The end of the film is too commercialized, making foreplay completely meaningless. On the other hand, if it is defined as a commercial film, it is obviously far less magnanimous than "The Veteran" and "Assassination". Perhaps, a director with a warm personality really wasted such a good story that is very easy to draw.
View more about Inside Men reviews
