My Annoying Brother

Doo-sik is in prison for fraud. Doo-young is his brother, a judo athlete on the national team, and is injured in a competition. The injury is permanent: he loses his sight. Hearing of it, Doo-sik finds a way to get out early; he obtains release by saying he will care for his brother. That is not his intention. The two begin living together and he looks for a way to use his brother's money. Kwon Soo-kyung directs. Jo Jung-suk plays Doo-sik and Do Kyung-soo plays Doo-young. The subject is care and responsibility; the older brother is nowhere built as a good man and the narrative changes him late. The judo sections were prepared with the advice of real athletes; judo for the visually impaired is a real discipline and its rules are shown correctly. The narrative moves between comedy and drama, a combination common in mainstream Korean cinema; here the balance largely holds. Do Kyung-soo was known as a singer and drew attention as an actor with this part. It did well commercially in Korea. Its limit is the last section; the narrative raises the emotional pressure and the resolution goes where it is expected. Who it is for: viewers who like Korean family comedy and drama grounded in sport. Who it is not for: it is predictable, the emotional register is high, and the last half hour is long.