Grand Prix

Grand Prix is a 2010 Korean film. I've seen so many horse racing related movies recently that I've pretty much gotten my fill of them for years to come. Part of that is my fault, as it took me a while to track some down, watch a few I've been wanting to catch up with, stumble across others, etc. How does this movie stack up against other recent similarly themed movies?...it's OK. Slightly better than middle of the pack.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Here's your story: Young female jockey screws up her shoulder/collarbone in a horse racing accident and is forced to quit the sport. She takes some time to heal mentally and physically, and soon meets a dude who's also left horse racing behind for his own reasons. The two of them get to know each other while they each work towards facing their past demons and getting on with their lives. Then, romance starts to bloom between them.

This is more of slow love story/self re-discovery drama than it is a horse racing movie. Horses are featured prominently throughout, and they are central to the story, but there is very little horse racing involved here.

Basically, the movie focuses on the two main leads almost entirely, with a few other minor characters and side stories sprinkled in. Lead actress is played by Kim Tae-hee. I like her well enough, and think she's done a solid enough job in everything I've seen her in to date. She seems to get bashed a lot as a being a somewhat less than stellar actress for whatever reason, but, I'm not sure why as she seems to be a perfectly capable actress to me. Yang Dong-kun plays the main lead actor he's pretty charismatic and very effective here. I've seen in him a number of projects in the distant past, but he seems to have disappeared from the movie making radar for a number of years prior to reappearing in this film. I can't recall why off the top of my head though (perhaps other interests, family concerns, etc). Anyway, both the leads do a fine job throughout, and they seem to have some decent chemistry together.

As the movie progresses, both of the leads slowly help each other overcome their own pasts, while they simultaneously fall in love with horse racing again, &, each other. There's also a primarily subplot involving the history of the horse owners and/or parents that's designed to raise the drama and further drive the plot. I found this story line to be somewhat unnecessary and a bit contrived, but, Whatever! So, all in all, if you're looking for a decent romance/drama that revolves around horses, this flick will probably work well enough for you. I'd rate it somewhere in the 60-70% range under a different format. I'm tempted to give it 7 stars, as I liked it solidly, and thoroughly enjoyed the ridiculous melodramatic climax, but I just can't really justify going with that high of a rating overall.

So, 6 out of 10 stars it is!

Enjoy!

This is a narrow horse racing movie with romance between two unlikely jockeys. For guy viewers besides the presence of Kim Tae Hee on screen the build up is very safe and boring. It seemed like Kim Tae Hee had too much fun making this movie while riding horses to put emphasis and be part of a engaging story. Lee Jun-Ki was suppose to take on the male lead role but couldn't because he had to do his military duties which are mandatory in Korea for certain time period. And I couldn't help but wonder how if he played this role instead of Yang Dong-Geun, if the movie would have been better or worse. Not that I find Lee Junki a great actor but he might have fit this role well. But Yang Dong-Geun was the best part about this movie although that isn't saying much, he is amusing to watch. Although he is basically playing himself for the most part which he does in most movies and dramas. The plot isn't anything new when it comes to these types of movies in Korea, besides the horse racing aspect of it. There is something when it comes to girls and horses and I guess that is the selling point when it came down to getting the female viewers attention. And I thought the whole movie would revolve mostly on the horse racing grand prix part of it but that isn't the case. Which might disappoint some viewers. But mostly revolve around people talking about horses and there experiences with them and their love for horses and romance between Kim Tae Hee's character and Yang Dong-Geun's character. They probably lacked the budget to make it more focused on the grand prix or something. Overall there is Kim Tae Hee for the guys and horses for the girls but besides that, the story kinda sucks even if it kinda pick up on the last 30 minutes or so. It's watchable that is about it.

4.2/10