Review of A Special Lady

I am a huge fan of Hye-Soo Kim. I am also a big fan of this film genre. I am not offended by or have any problems with sex, violence, or explicit language. Based on those facts, it would not have been that difficult for this movie to get a high rating from me. But, despite strong performances by the main characters, I cannot give more than 3 stars to this movie, 2 1/2 for Hye-Soo Kim's performance alone. The problem with this movie was that it took the easy and obvious way out each and every time. The sequence of events was so cliched, formulaic, and predictable. It appeared to have all the elements of a very gripping and entertaining gangster drama, but instead, it delivered 1 1/2 hour of nonsense. The truth of the matter is all of the characters are criminals who have committed murder and various other serious crimes. The director's attempt to create sympathetic characters out of criminals fell way short of the goal. Even the action scenes are pretty ridiculous. Definitely not worth the time.