Oldboy (2013 film)

Oldboy is a 2013 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Spike Lee and with a screenplay by Mark Protosevich. It stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley and Samuel L. Jackson in the lead roles. The film is an official remake, or as labeled by Lee a "reinterpretation", of Park Chan-wook's 2003 South Korean film of the same name. Both are adapted from a Japanese manga of the same name.
The film was released on November 27, 2013. It was the last film to be distributed by FilmDistrict, before Focus Features absorbed the company in October 2013. It received a mixed reception from critics, with praise for the acting and visual style, but was criticized in relation to Park's film. Lee was criticized for not using creative choices to differentiate his work, in essence to justify why he made it. The film was also a box office bomb, and was one of the worst box office performances of Lee's directing career.
Plot.
In 1993, alcoholic advertising executive Joe Doucett gets drunk after losing a major account. Before he passes out, he sees a woman with a yellow umbrella. When he wakes up he finds himself locked in what appears to be a hotel room. His unseen captors provide him food, alcohol, and personal hygiene items, but do not explain why he is held captive. Joe sees a news report saying his ex-wife Donna was raped and murdered and that he is the prime suspect. Their 3-year-old daughter Mia was adopted through the welfare system.
Over the next 20 years, Joe quits drinking and gets into shape, intent on escaping and getting revenge. He compiles a list of all those who might want to imprison him, and writes letters to eventually be given to Mia. One day he sees a tv interview of Mia, who says she would forgive her father if she ever saw him.
Joe is drugged shortly thereafter. When he wakes up he is outside in a trunk in a field, with a cellphone and a small amount of money. He spots the woman with the yellow umbrella and runs after her; he loses her but encounters Marie Sebastian, a nurse who offers to help. He refuses the help, but takes her business card. Joe goes to his friend Chucky's bar, and explains what has happened to him. While being there, Joe receives a call on his cellphone from a man calling himself the "Stranger," who mocks him. Joe spends a great deal of effort, with no success, to determine if any of the men on his list is the Stranger. Joe collapses from dehydration, and Chucky calls Marie to help. While he recovers, Marie is moved emotionally by Joe's letters to Mia and offers to help him further. She helps him identify a Chinese restaurant which supplied his food while he was held captive.
Joe follows a delivery from the restaurant to a warehouse where he was imprisoned, and meets Chaney, its owner. Joe tortures Chaney by flaying his neck with a Stanley knife, and he confesses that the Stranger arranged for Joe's captivity. Upon returning to Chucky's bar, Joe finds the Stranger there with the woman with the yellow umbrella, his bodyguard Haeng-bok. The Stranger says they have kidnapped Mia, but if Joe can determine in 46 hours the Stranger's identity and the reason for his captivity for 20 years, he'll release Mia, give Joe $20 million in diamonds, proof of Joe's innocence in Donna's murder, and commit suicide.
Joe learns that Chaney and his men are seeking revenge by attacking Marie. After racing to her house, he is captured by Chaney. Just as Chaney is about to cut and torture him, the Stranger calls Chaney and offers to pay him for Joe's release. Chaney releases Joe and Marie. Using a music recognition app on her phone, Marie determines that the ringtone from the Stranger's call is the theme song of Evergreen Academy, which Joe had attended, but is now closed and shuttered.
Marie visits the school headmistress's home; Joe sneaks in a back door and finds his yearbook where he recognizes a student, Adrian Doyle Pryce. Joe passes the name to Chucky then hides Marie in a hotel for her safety. There they have passionate sex, unaware that Adrian is watching through hidden cameras. Chucky does some internet sleuthing and leaves a message for Joe revealing that it's about Adrian's sister. Adrian intercepts and deletes the message before Joe hears it, and because Chucky insulted Adrian's sister, he garrots Chucky to death with piano wire. Marie and Joe enter the Evergreen Academy grounds, and find the school's records regarding Adrian and Amanda. Joe recalls bullying Amanda, and seeing Amanda having sex with an older man in the greenhouse. Back at the car, they find a package with Chucky's tongue inside.
Joe goes to Adrian's penthouse, kills Haeng-bok by slitting her throat, and confronts Adrian. Adrian congratulates him for answering the two questions correctly. Adrian's and Amanda's father Arthur is revealed to have sexually abused both his children. Arthur moved his family to Luxembourg, where he later murdered his wife and Amanda, attempted to murder Adrian, and committed suicide. Adrian, who has convinced himself that his father's abuse was an expression of love, blames the destruction of his family on Joe, who revealed their secret. Adrian gives him the diamonds and evidence, and escorts him to sets used to fabricate the media watched by Joe in the warehouse. Adrian taunts Joe by questioning why he was released at all; his tormentor shows that the interview with "Mia" was a setup; the girl, now a woman, was a paid actress. Adrian reveals that Marie is really Joe's own daughter; Adrian wanted Joe to know what it felt like to lose everything. Adrian commits suicide by shooting himself in the mouth.
Horrified, Joe writes Marie a letter saying they can never see each other again. He leaves her most of the diamonds, using the rest to pay Chaney to return him to the captivity of the hotel room.
Production.
Early development.
An American remake of "Oldboy" previously had director Justin Lin attached. In November 2008, DreamWorks and Universal were securing the rights to the remake, which Will Smith had expressed interest in starring, with Steven Spielberg as director. Mark Protosevich was in talks to write the script, although the acquisition to the remake rights were not finalized. Smith later clarified that Spielberg would not be remaking the film: he would be adapting the manga itself, which is considerably different from the film. In June 2009, the comic's publisher launched a lawsuit against the Korean film's producers for giving the film rights to Spielberg without their permission. Later in November 2009, it was reported that DreamWorks, Spielberg and Smith had stepped back from the project. The producing team announced on 10 November 2009 that the project was dead.
Director and casting.
On July 11, 2011, Mandate Pictures sent a press release stating that Spike Lee would direct a remake of the South Korean film (ignoring the earlier version's adaptation of the manga) with a screenplay written by Protosevich. Josh Brolin was cast to star in the remake as the lead character, while Christian Bale was reportedly in talks to portray the antagonist character, but it was later reported that Colin Firth had been offered the role. Firth later passed on the role, which was later offered to Clive Owen. In May 2012, "Deadline" reported that Sharlto Copley had officially been cast as the villain Adrian Pryce. Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson and Nate Parker were all later announced to have joined the cast. Parker was later replaced by James Ransone, due to a scheduling conflict. The film marked Jackson's first time working with director Lee since 1991's "Jungle Fever".
Principal photography began in October 2012.
Final cut editing.
Spike Lee's version was 140 minutes long, but the producers heavily re-edited the film to 105 minutes (re-edits by producers also included the "one-shot hammer" scene); Lee and Josh Brolin were unhappy with it. Lee even removed his trademark "A Spike Lee Joint" credit for a more impersonal "A Spike Lee Film" during the editing process. Brolin has also said in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times" that he prefers Lee's version of the film, though it is not clear if this cut will ever be released.
Release.
Critical reception.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Suitably grim and bloody yet disappointingly safe and shallow, Spike Lee's "Oldboy" remake neither surpasses the original nor adds anything new to its impressive legacy." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gives three of four stars, saying: "Because the Internet moves with the speed and ferocity of a hornet swarm, there's a chance that by the time you read this, Spike Lee's American remake of "Oldboy" will already have been stung to death. If so, too bad. This American version of Park Chan-Wook's Korean thriller is Lee's most exciting movie since "Inside Man"—not a masterpiece by any stretch, but a lively commercial genre picture with a hypnotic, obsessive quality, and an utter indifference to being liked, much less approved of."
Justin Chang of "Variety" said that "Lee and Protosevich have made a picture that, although several shades edgier than the average Hollywood thriller, feels content to shadow its predecessor's every move while falling short of its unhinged, balls-out delirium." Michael Phillips of "The Chicago Tribune", in a one and a half star review noted that "The revenge in "Oldboy" is neither sweet nor sour; it's just drab".
Eric Kohn, in a largely positive review at Indiewire said: "It's been so long since Lee made such a thoroughly amusing work that fans should have no problem excusing its messiness. But make no mistake... "Oldboy" is all over the place, sometimes playing like a subdued melodrama and elsewhere erupting into flamboyance and gore."
Box office.
The film grossed $885,000 in its first five days, one of the weakest Thanksgiving openings of all time, according to "Variety". It opened in 18th place at the box office and finished with a worldwide gross of $5.2 million, against its $30 million budget, making it a box office bomb.
Marketing dispute.
The film's advertising agency was also accused of taking advantage of the creative artist Juan Luis Garcia, who created posters for the film. According to an open letter posted by Garcia on his official website, the agency was asking him to work for too low an offer, saying that the "exposure" would be more important. Garcia claimed the posters were used and imitated for promotion of the film without paying compensation or credit to the artist. Spike Lee responded on his Twitter account saying: "I Never Heard Of This Guy Juan Luis Garcia, If He Has A Beef It's Not With Me. I Did Not Hire Him, Do Not Know Him. Cheap Trick Writing To Me. YO". He also addressed this further on Instagram, "Why Should I Pay Someone Who I Never Met Nor Had Any Contact With Ever? He Never Made Any Deal With Me. Why Don't You Pay Me For Your Stupid Text On Thanksgiving Day?". The issue was eventually settled. Garcia replaced the letter on his website with a message saying "A big Thank You to everyone who contacted me regarding the Oldboy posters. Spike Lee, Art Sims, and I have settled our differences and can put it behind us."