gridoon2024 Review of Seven Days

Seven Days (2007)

Overlong, gimmicky thriller whose main strength is Yunjin Kim's performance

[6/10 · 31 January 2010]

The main, if not the only to be honest, reason I watched this film is that it stars the beautiful, expressive, athletic Korean actress Yunjin Kim, who has of course become an international star thanks to her regular role as Sun in the TV series "Lost". She does not disappoint - she gives a terrific performance here. The story, a mix of kidnapping thriller, whodunit and courtroom drama, is VERY complex, loaded with red herrings and engaging for the most part, until a final twist that's a bit far-fetched. Let's just say that you probably WON'T guess the identity of the kidnapper until the end, but only because his / her motivations and the lengths that he / she goes to for the sake of his / her plan are a bit hard to swallow. But the main problem with "Seven Days" is the too-often gimmicky, frantic direction. While it has its inventive moments (Kim "watching" her kidnapped child), it usually just makes scenes hard to watch. At 130 minutes, the film is too long, but the cast and most of the story are strong enough to earn it a mild recommendation. **1/2 out of 4.