Making a thriller film about a prospective job hunt in this modern-day industry is slowly becoming a more understandable practice. Long gone are the days of help wanted signs on store windows and instead we have “ghost jobs,” endless interviews, and internal hiring cutting off outside opportunities. Which all seems perfect for a director like Park Chan-Wook (“Oldboy,” “The Handmaiden”) to step in and add his distinctly violent black comedy stylings to a film all about trudging through that kind of a market.
“No Other Choice” follows Yoo Man-su, played by Lee Byung-hun (“Kpop Demon Hunters,” “Squid Game”), a father and wealthy longtime employee of a bustling paper company. After the company is purchased by an American subsidiary, he and many others are laid off, forcing his wife Lee Mi-ri, played by Son Ye-jin (“The Truth Beneath,” “April Snow”), his teenaged son Si-one, and young daughter Ri-one to forgo their pricier hobbies and putting his childhood home in jeopardy. After over a year with no luck, Man-su develops a drastic plan: to kill Choi Seon-chul, played by Park Hee-soon (“Seven Days,” “My Name”), the line manager of a nearby paper company and his two most likely replacements Goo Beom-mo and Ko Si-jo, played by Lee Sung-min (“Reborn Rich,” “The Spy Gone North”) and Cha Seung-won (“Blood Rain,” “Our Son”) respectively, so that he can take the position.
Byung-hun's portrayal of Man-su is an excellent work of comedic seriousness. As this is essentially a tale to see what it takes to push a good man over the brink, he treats Man-su with a delicate nature. He’s not quick to jump to any decision, and he balances the clear intelligence and care with a bumbling sensibility reminiscent of a sitcom dad. Less expected is Ye-jin's performance as Mi-ri; what could have easily been a “doting wife” slowly evolves as the film goes on. Just as Man-su is forced to bend as the world comes at him, so does Mi-ri, and Ye-jin's portrayal of this evolution is one of the most fascinating elements of the film, almost eclipsing Byung-hun's excellent lead performance.
If the performances are fantastic, the film’s editing and visual style are borderline perfect. Chan-Wook and editors Kim Sang-bum (“The Handmaiden,” “Decision to Leave”) and Kim Ho-bin (“Lobby”) make heavy use of various half-screen fades and dissolves to douse this tale in a noir-like energy. Simply put, it's a tactile film, like you can reach out and touch it. Cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung (“The Front Line,” “The King”) plays with plenty of fun angles and tricks as well, such as the angle of a beer glass and close-ups on a cavity filled tooth. It’s a delightfully crafted film, finding a twisted sense of fun in each scene transition and presentational aspect. Unexpectedly so, the film’s sound design is its best aspect. Supervising sound editor Eunjung Kim (“The Handmaiden,” “Concrete Utopia”) and sound supervisor Kim Suk-won (“The Handmaiden,” “Peninsula”) get a lot of mileage out of simple juxtapositions, setting up seemingly quiet acts and scenes with cranked up sound effects. Whether it’s a bone crunch or simply amplifying the sound of an action as the camera sits far far away, it makes for a soundscape as impressive and commanding as any modern war or racing film.
With a filmography as long as his, there are certain expectations one might have at a Park Chan-Wook film that “No Other Choice” certainly fulfils in spades. It has his trademark satirical bit and dark comedy, as well as a penchant for creatively staged violence and melodrama. Yet, for as great as each of these individual elements are, there’s a specificity that’s missing compared to his other works. It results in the ending lacking the precise sharpness that would otherwise be expected from a work like this, instead landing as a softer hit. It’s the film equivalent of a punch in the arm versus a bullet to the chest.
This isn’t to say that the script written by Chan-Wook, Lee Kyoung-mi (“The Truth Beneath,” “The School Nurse Files”), Don McKellar (“Blindness,” “The Red Violin”), and Lee Ja-hye (“Uprising”) isn’t engaging. Rather that at this point in our age, with so many stories about modern day jobs, these statements don’t feel as impactful or radical as they seem to think they do. The dialogue is still riotously funny, the moments of pure physical comedy, such as the scene involving Man-su's first kill, are magnificent, and the central mystery surrounding his actions is legitimately tense. It’s simply an issue that doesn’t hit you until the bleak as all hell ending is realized in real time.
Park Chan-Wook's latest might have a bleaker, slightly softer touch than his previous highly precise works, but it's nevertheless equally entertaining and darkly funny. A completely committed cast comes together to deliver on his singular idea of what a good man can do when pushed to the brink. The violence never overwhelms the comedy, and neither does the comedy overwhelm the drama. Byung-hun and Ye-jin lead a terrific ensemble right down to the bank, cashing a massive check of violent satirical entertainment bliss. 4.5/5
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