Decision to Leave (2022)
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Decision to Leave Movie Review
Decision to Leave is a 2022 South Korean romantic mystery film directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Tang Wei and Park Hae-il. It is another well made, but flawed Park movie.
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“Don’t talk about our time like that“
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A detective investigating a man’s death in the mountains ends up meeting and developing feelings for the dead man’s mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing. First things first, I am not a fan of this director. I never particularly cared for any one of his movies and that trend continues with this one, though the movie isn’t bad in any way.
It’s just okay and nothing more than that. It’s not your standard Park Chan-wook movie in a sense that it’s far more romantic than you’d expect. It’s just as much a romance as it is a mystery. And that I liked, but I simply did not care for these characters enough for me to be moved by their story unfortunately.
Park Hae-il is very good and Tang Wei of ‘Lust, Caution’ fame is also excellent. Some scenes between the two are quite intriguing and the dialogue can be great as well. The problem here is that the mystery elements did not work for me as the movie was overly convoluted in its third act and I was simply never engaged enough for this mystery to fully capture my interest.
Decision to Leave is gorgeously shot, there is no denying that. The cinematography here is one of the best of the year with so many beautiful shots and takes throughout the film’s runtime. That runtime is overlong at over two hours and I was honestly bored, but at least the movie is beautifully scored and shot.
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The directing is only serviceable and the same goes for the overall storyline. It’s just an okay movie all-around that is competently made, but never great at anything that it does, which makes me wonder why it was acclaimed by critics to such an extent. It must be due to the big director name on the project and nothing else.
Decision to Leave is your standard Park Chan-wook mystery that is also very much a romance. The acting performances are strong and the score is great. The cinematography is particularly striking. The problem here is that the script was only serviceable and the third act was too convoluted. I was also never engaged in this movie due to its leisurely pace and an excessive runtime.
My Rating – 3
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