THE POINT MEN (교섭) (2023)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Yim Soon-rye
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Hyun Bin, Kang Ki-young, Jeon Sung-woo, Park Hyoung-soo
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Mature Content and Drug Use)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 2 February 2023

Synopsis: Based on the true events of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan A group of Korean tourists is taken hostage by an extremist Taliban group in Afghanistan. The Korean government dispatches Jae-ho (HWANG Jung-min), known as one of Korea’s most skilled diplomats, in order to handle the situation. Once he arrives, he asks for the Afghan government’s cooperation and uses every means possible to free the hostages. However, his efforts go in vain. Due to his failure, he’s forced to work with Dae-sik (HYUN Bin), a special agent who is an expert on the Middle East. As they begin making their move to get to the Taliban, the first hostage death occurs. With nowhere else to turn, the two become unlikely allies in a race against time to save the rest of the hostages.

Movie Review:

It is fact that 23 Christian missionaries from the Republic of Korea were taken hostage by the Taliban back in 2007 when they wilfully went against the government’s ban on travel to Afghanistan. It is also fact that two of the hostages were executed before the government struck a deal with the Taliban for the safe release of the rest, which reportedly included a US$20 million ransom. It is however fiction that the negotiation ultimately came down to a skilled diplomat named Jung Jae-ho and a seasoned National Intelligence Service agent named Park Dae-sik, after multiple days and rounds of setbacks going through various intermediaries.

The titular men in ‘The Point Men’ refer to Jung (Hwang Jung-min) and Park (Hyun Bin), both fictional characters in director Yim Soon-rye’s dramatic retelling of the true events from more than a decade ago. Given the backdrop, there is good potential for a tense, character-driven thriller anchored by the dynamic between Jung and Park, two individuals whose approach to such conflict resolution would naturally be quite different given their respective background. And yet, there is little spark between them, the same of which can be said of Yim’s unfortunately mediocre drama, which while watchable, is utterly pedestrian from start to finish.

That is a pity, given its strong start with the re-enactment of the hostage-taking and the subsequent negotiations between the Korean and Afghan foreign ministries. In particular, the latter demonstrates the inexperience of the Korean diplomats in navigating the complexities of the political situation in Afghanistan, especially in believing that the Afghans would ever agree to the Taliban’s demands of releasing an equivalent number of their men in Kabul Prison; it also speaks to their naivety that they would even consider getting out of their vehicle and walking by foot along the streets of Kabul in order to avoid the congestion en route to the Afghan foreign ministry.

Instead of building on a promising first act however, Yim and her screenwriter Ahn Young-soo seem incapable of sustaining the narrative momentum. An episode with a leader of the Afghan Jirga turns out surprisingly flat because it isn’t clear how Jung or Park persuaded him to intervene on their behalf in the first place. Another botched attempt through a shady British mercenary named Abdullah (Bryan Larkin) unfolds too cursorily, even if it culminates in a nicely staged vehicular chase along the narrow alleys of Kabul. Only when Jung decides to risk his own life to negotiate face to face with the Taliban does the storytelling pick up pace, although the negotiation itself is sadly no more than a couple of histrionic outbursts stitched together.

Because the outcome was never in question, it is ultimately the process that matters; and in this regard, while never boring, there is the undeniable feeling that there were plenty of missed opportunities. For one, you’d wish the movie had explored the larger geopolitical nuances at play, including and especially the role of the United States as well as its troops on the ground. For another, you’d wish it also addressed the criticism of how the 23 hostages were to blame for their circumstances, given how they had deliberately circumvented national law for the selfish glory of their church. And most of all, you’d wish the film had developed the relationship between Jung and Park further, going from an initial disdain to deep mutual respect and eventually friendship.

Indeed, that the movie decided to centre the proceedings on two fictional characters and yet fail to make meaningful character drama out of it is probably our greatest lament. As solid as they are, there is only so much Hwang and Hyun can do with the cardboard roles, notwithstanding their inherent presence. Indeed, you’d also wish ‘The Point Men’ had taken its subject matter much, much further, not just in terms of character but also in its politics or even just as a procedural. As it stands, though never dull, you’ll be left wondering just what the point is behind this dramatic retelling, and ultimately go away rather underwhelmed.

Movie Rating:

(Though never dull, this utterly unspectacular thriller misses plenty of opportunities to be a strong character drama, a compelling geopolitical lesson or even just a gripping procedural)

Review by Gabriel Chong