Nabbeun namja
Lifesize Entertainment | Release Date: February 18, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyDerek Elley
The most emotionally satisfying pic to date by Korean iconoclast Kim Ki-duk. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
The film is filled with lovely images (Kim studied painting in France), and ultimately becomes, against all expectations, quite moving. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The film works best as a passionate tale of obsessive love, with two people brought together under harrowing circumstances. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Beautifully shot and lushly scored, this may be one of the least P.C. love stories ever filmed. But it's one of the most deeply felt. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Uncompromising, unpleasant and emotionally brutal, this twisted love story of emotional bondage is oddly compelling. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Low, mean and depressingly plausible. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Bad Guy, one of the seven films in Kim's fascinating back catalog, is another kind of cocktail--simple, bitter, served straight and in an unwashed glass. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNed Martel
If there is anything worth discovering in this sad slog of a story, it is the two fierce performances by Cho Je-Hyun and Seo Won, who play the lovers and turn the harsh drama into a showcase for their pained expressions. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
The audience is subjected to a series of emotional contortions, encouraged to experience them voyeuristically, and then scolded for doing so. The bathetic music Kim favors is profoundly at odds with his chilly attitude toward the characters. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Certainly offbeat, but not on a level with director Kim's previous work about marginalized people. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The filmmaker's attempt to explore the outer boundaries of erotic and violent obsession are undone by the murkiness of the execution, and only the highly committed and forceful performances by the two leads give the aptly titled Bad Guy any distinction. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
What begins, rather promisingly, as a visceral yawp against class difference in contemporary South Korea slowly devolves into a prolonged exercise in pointless sadomasochism. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Really, who needs a bad guy who's this guilty about being bad? Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A well-told tale that uses minimal dialogue, striking imagery, and vivid violence to weave a depressing portrait of obsessive love and a no-win battle of wills. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Ghastly. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
South Korean director Kim Ki-duk does a bizarre riff on the twisted macho ethos of abusing women until they learn to love you. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Becomes more and more confused, unpleasant and preposterous. Read full review
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