No Other Choice

Last night my nephew and I saw No Other Choice at the Broadway and we both loved this hilarious dark comedy!  Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) is living an affluent lifestyle with his wife Lee Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), teenage son Yoo Si-won (Kim Woo-seung), and neurodivergent daughter Yoo Ri-won (Choi So-yul) until he is fired from his job as an executive at Solar Paper after an American company buys it out.  He assures his wife that he will find another job within three months but after more than a year of unemployment she gets a job as a dental hygienist and the family is forced to cut back on all of their activities, including cello lessons for their daughter who is considered a prodigy, put their house on the market, and re-home their two beloved dogs.  Man-su finally gets an interview with Moon Paper but he is devastated when the job is given to Choi Seon-chul (Park Hee-soon) so he attempts to kill him.  However, when he realizes that the job might not go to him even if Seon-chul is removed, Man-su forms an ingenious plan to find all other more qualified candidates and plots to kill them, as well.  Absolute mayhem ensues but Man-su believes that he has no other choice.  I laughed out loud at all of Man-su's bumbling attempts to get rid of the competition, especially a long drawn-out sequence with his rival Goo Beom-mo (Lee Sung-min), but it is even more compelling to watch him get better and better at it.  I absolutely loved Lee Byung-hun's brilliant performance because he nails the physical comedy but he also imbues the character with a desperation that is palpable.  I also enjoyed Kim Woo-seung's multilayered performance, especially the moving scene in which she comes to the conclusion that her husband had no other choice but to do what he did.  As funny as this is, it is also a biting satire condemning corporations for discarding loyal workers, particularly in favor of automation, in the pursuit of a better bottom line and I found the commentary on late stage capitalism to be very thought-provoking.  Finally, the color palette, the dynamic camerawork, and intriguing transitions between scenes make this a visually striking movie.  I highly recommend it!