Michael Kang's second feature, "West 32nd," is set in the world of Korean room salons.
Starring John Cho and an international cast of actors, including Korean American Jane Kim
and Korean national Jun-ho Jeong, the story focuses on an eager-to-succeed lawyer, John
Kim (Cho), who finds himself sucked into the seamy underbelly of New York Koreatown's
room salon culture. Jun-sung Kim plays the magnetic and power-hungry Mike Juhn, an
errand-boy to the gang bosses running the local Family Business, and the one responsible
for bringing John into the fold.
The joint, international production, financed by CJ Entertainment in South Korea, is, to my
great relief, not your typical Asian American film. It steers clear of identity issues and
bicultural experience, and for all the seedy suggestions attached to room salons, the movie
is a basic whodunit that happens to be set in Koreatown and features a cast of Asian
characters. There's gunplay, beautiful women, murder and dashes of humor now and again
- all familiar tropes in the gangster flick genre.
The film's cast gives strong performances, especially Jun-Sung Kim, who brings
noteworthy charm to his character, Mike Juhn. Grace Park has a small part as Lila, the
classic noir femme fatale, only this betrayer is played with a genuine naivete and sweetness,
a departure from the typical "deadly woman." Jane Kim is also convincing as the beautiful
salon girl Suki, an innocent caught among wolves who pays dearly.
Surprisingly, Cho's performance was the least interesting of the bunch. As an opportunistic
lawyer living in an ethically grey area, Cho's dramatic sequences leave something to be
desired. Where he does shine, though, is in comedy, which is clearly evident in the movie's
dinner scene where his fumbling Korean and awkward table manners provide some of the
funnier moments in the film.
The one significant problem with "West 32nd" is the lack of surprise in the plot. Viewers
can easily guess whodunit, so when it comes time for the big revelation, Cho's shocked
reaction feels a bit hollow. From this point on, until the movie's end, the plot builds to a
chaotic climax before being quickly wrapped up at the hands of the savvy lawyer. Through
a series of quick, if clumsy, scenes, all the characters return to their respective worlds and
continue their endeavors of self-interest and self-promotion: the lawyer behind his desk; the
gangster behind the wheel of a new car; the femme fatale back with the family; and the
young innocent ... well, dead.
It's difficult working in a field as saturated as the gangster genre, but Kang is sharper than
your average director, and he does succeed in bringing something different to the genre. On
the surface level, instead of the tradition-entrenched Chinese tongs or the ritual-obsessed
Japanese yakuza, we have the Korean thug primping in room salons, where criminality is
both brutal and chaotic. On a deeper level, we have a struggle for the American dream as
seen from two ends of the spectrum: one is the criminal underworld, the other is from
behind the desk of a high-powered law firm. Between the two, the only difference is one
has a body count.