Undoing (2006)

A crime drama set in LA's Koreatown, UNDOING introduces us to Samuel, who returns after a mysterious absence to reconcile the death of his best friend exactly one year ago.

Director:

Chris Chan Lee

Writer:

Chris Chan Lee

Stars:

Sung Kang, Kelly Hu, Tom Bower

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sung Kang	...	Samuel
Kelly Hu	...	Vera
Tom Bower	...	Don
Russell Wong	...	Leon
José Zúñiga	...	Randall
Leonardo Nam	...	Joon
Mary Mara	...	Kasawa
Julia Ling	...	Linda
Bobby Lee	...	Kenny
Kenneth Choi	...	Danny
Ron Yuan	...	Chang
D.C. Wolfe	...	Stan
David Connolly	...	Phil
Jennifer Tung	...	Jane
Michael Li	...	Gunman #1

Storyline

A crime drama set in LA's Koreatown, UNDOING introduces us to Samuel, who returns after a mysterious absence to reconcile the death of his best friend exactly one year ago.

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Plot Keywords:

asian american | gangster | neo noir

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Taglines:

He's taking back what was once his

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace page Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$16,065 (USA) (4 January 2008)

Gross:

$44,999 (USA) (29 February 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A Space Between, Group Hug Productions, EK Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bobby Lee needed to re-do the dialog for his scenes in a sound booth. He did the entire re-dub in the nude.

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Quotes

Don: Why the interview?
Kenny: I mean, have you killed anybody? I know you probably have some cool-ass stories and shit.
Don: Ok, why don't you tell Connie Chung to sit back and keep quiet.
[unknown to the writer/director, Bobby Lee does a Connie Chung impersonation on MadTV]

User Reviews

Interesting minimalist Asian American indie film noir

This was obviously done on little or no budget, and they make the most of it. Sam (Sung Kang), gone for a year, returns to Los Angeles to get revenge for his friend who was killed in a drug deal gone bad, and to get back his girlfriend. The film is told in minimalist fashion, with a definite film noir attitude. The story is pretty straightforward, but serves to reveal Sam's inner turmoil. While most of the characters/actors are Asian American, and part of the film is set in LA's Koreatown, this does not figure in the story, and in fact there is only one moment--when Sam visits his dead friend's father--that we see something culturally Korean (at least, I think it is culturally Korean--I'm not Korean myself) and expresses his grief at the news he has to tell the father.

I found the film not exciting, but interesting, as a character study of someone who has done some wrong things and expects others to help him dig himself out.