Tonight I watched My Sassy Girl, a movie that tells the story of a young man who meets a girl who changes his life forever. Hm. Typical general plot? Maybe. But this girl is anything but typical. More along the lines of… crazy, violent, and clinically insane.

The version I watched tonight was the 2008 American one, which is a remake of the 2001 Korean film of the same name, which is, in turn, based on the true story told in a series of love letters written by Kim Ho-sik, a man who initially posted them on the Internet and later adapted them into a novel.

This review is about the American version.

To be completely honest, when I first heard that there was going to be an American version, I went, “WHAT?” in a not-so-happy way. I mean, I loved the original Korean version, and there were a lot of things about the film that would be very difficult (if not impossible) to translate into English. And then when I saw the official trailer, I was certain that the new film was going to suck.
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Well… it didn’t.

Not as much as I thought it would, anyway.

Elisha Cuthbert, whom I first saw in 24, did pretty good. Although, at the start of the film, I was still skeptical if she’d be able to pull it off, she grew her character throughout the film. By the end parts of the movie, I was convinced that she surprisingly did her bossy, crazy but impossibly endearing character rather well. True, she’s no Jun Ji-hyun, and her Sassy Girl wasn’t quite like the original one, but I think it’s all good. She did her own version, and she did it well.

As for Jesse Bradford, though… Ha! Right from his first scene and narration, I already felt that his character was solid, and that he was going to nail it. His Charlie was definitely different from Gyeon-woo, but at the same time very, very, VERY similar. And I loved it. (And that doesn’t happen very often.)

The flow of the story was pretty tightly followed. The major events were all there, although one or two were very slightly tweaked. I loved how several small details (the really hilarious ones!) were kept. And there were several allusions to the original film, too.

And you know what? I think the American version of My Sassy Girl had more similarities to the original Korean one than The Lakehouse did to Il Mare.

My verdict:
I give it a 6 out of 10. It was pretty good, definitely better than I’d thought it’d be. I still like the original one better by a mile, but I can honestly say I enjoyed the remake.

If you haven’t watched the Korean original, then I tell you that this is a nice, light romcom. It’s a good way to end a tiring day, methinks.

If you’re like me and you’ve watched the Korean original, try to rein in your critical eye. Enjoy the movie first, and then compare later. It’ll be more fun that way!