The Big Swindle

Publish date: 2024-07-27

Crime is less important than the post-heist cheating in enjoyable, character-based yarn about a bunch of grifters that provides meaty roles for its whole cast plus a couple of neat twists prior to the final act. First feature by writer-director Choi Dong-hun makes a pic more for Asian-centered fests, though basic story, carefully cast, could have remake potential.

The crime is less important than the post-heist cheating in “The Big Swindle,” an enjoyable, character-based yarn about a bunch of grifters that provides meaty roles for its whole cast plus a couple of neat twists prior to the final act. First feature by writer-director Choi Dong-hun, an a.d. on Im Sang-soo’s “Tears,” relies to some extent on audience recognition of its cast members, making this a picture more for Asian-centered fests, though basic story, carefully cast, could have remake potential. On home turf, the April release scammed a smart 2 million-plus admissions.

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In a high-speed car chase, Choi Chang-hyeok (Park Shin-yang), one of a gang who stole 5 billion won ($4.3 million) from a Bank of Korea branch, is pursued by police; Choi’s car ends up bursting into flames and crashing down an escarpment. Trying to trace the gang’s leader, a super-smooth crim known as Master Kim (Baek Yun-shik), investigating cop Cha (Cheon Ho-jin) routinely questions Choi’s elder brother, Chang-ho, a quiet novelist-cum-bookshop owner, and Kim’s live-in partner and sexy fellow swindler, In-gyeong (Yeom Jeong-ah).

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Chang-ho and In-gyeong aren’t much help, so Cha puts the squeeze on a hospitalized member of the gang, “Big Mouth” (Lee Mun-shik), for info on the whereabouts of Kim and the missing loot. Hereon, film cuts back and forth between the past (as Choi first approaches Kim with his plan, and the team is formed) and the present (as In-gyeong, eyeing Chang-ho’s share of his brother’s life insurance, moves in with him above the bookshop).

Film’s original title translates as “Reconstruction of a Crime,” and in its basic architecture — and use of a twist to power the third act — the script strongly recalls “Reservoir Dogs.” Overall flavor, however, is very different, with a breezier tone, especially in the character of Cha, and the way in which Kim, realizing he’s been swindled himself, sets out to catch the perp.

Unrecognizable from his restrained playing in psychodrama “The Uninvited,” Park has a field-day as the spiky-haired, extrovert Choi. But in a quieter way, he’s matched in the acting stakes by both Baek (the captive in “Save the Green Planet!”) as master-grifter Kim, and Yeom (the stepmother in “A Tale of Two Sisters”) as the lynx-eyed In-gyeong. Playing by the ensemble is fine down the line, especially by Cheon as the perpetually stymied Cha.

Tech credits are unflashy but pro, with an overall dark look, heavy on blacks and rich reds. Complex plot requires some attention to make all the bits fit together, and a set-up for a possible sequel continues under the end titles. Script was reportedly inspired by a real Bank of Korea swindle in 1996.

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The Big Swindle

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