Hard Hit

The main character in "Hard Hit" is taking the kids to school one morning - a boy and a girl - when he gets a restricted call. The unknown caller informs him that a bomb has been placed under his seat. It will explode if he leaves the car.

This is all you need for 90+ minutes of frantic action, I guess, and the unknown caller soon supplies a demand and an explosive argument for making our hero do just like Toto. That is hold the line.

The reliable supporting actor Jo Woo-jin tackles his first lead role playing an ordinary bank employee who gets pinned behind the wheel. His rapport with Lee Jae-in, playing his daughter, provides a human element in all the frenzy. He's understandably desperate. I mean, I would be too, if I had to handle at least two phone calls simultaneously while at the same time calm the kids down and actually drive the car.

It's a saddening reminder of COVID-era realities, by the way, to see beaches and intercity highways in Busan all but deserted with no CGI enhancements needed.

The movie is a remake of an excellent Spanish thriller, "El Desconocido" (2015), starring Luis Tosar in one of his best roles. The Korean version follows the original unusually closely, to such an extent that all they've really done is to translate it to the Korean idiom. And both movies surely owe something to "Speed" (1994) and Dennis Hopper's scheme as the bad guy.

Anyway. The movie keeps the pace up, and it never feels as if the entire plot actually takes place inside or in the immediate vicinity of the hero's car. The unknown caller is online most of the time (those familiar to K-movies and K-dramas will undoubtedly recognize the voice right away), and the Koreans do love their phones and gadgets.

The flow may get a little lost with subtitles, I imagine, but this movie worked for me, built around its ingenious plot. So fasten the seatbelt. Or then again, thinking of the unfortunate hero, maybe better not.

PS: The Korean title refers to a "Restricted Call" as opposed to the meaningless English title, and in everday slang, it's also known as a "black call". Shouldn't miss a chance to show off...