The Man Standing Next

THE MAN STANDING NEXT - SHOWBOX

Min-ho Woo's commercially successful, political-biographical thriller The Man Standing Next – based on the novel of the same name – is an intense and captivating drama with an impressive central performance from Byung-hun Lee as controversial, real-life political figure Kim Kyu-Pyeong.

Min-ho Woo's film balances the tone of a politically complicated and critical real-life moment in history with an engaging and entertaining plot almost perfectly. At a running time of just under one-hundred and twenty minutes, Woo's film never overstays its welcome yet involves all significant and pivotal sequences necessary for a brutal and all impacting finale – even if the film does have a stuttering start with a non-cyclical narrative that takes all enigmatic nature of the plot away in the first few frames.

There is minimal fat present here to both bore or underwhelm the viewer in a concise and engaging edit. The colour grade is often dark and gloomy to solidify the enigmatic and intense nature of the film itself, and the film digs deep into that depth with a stirring central performance from Byung-hun Lee. The South Korean actor is nothing short of marvellous here with an often reserved performance that has an outburst of emotional range that deepens and heightens the political storm.

Coupled with an often fiery exchange with rival Kwak Sang-Cheon, played by the superbly boisterous Hee-joon Lee with outstanding screen presence and a stoic but internally fiery performance from Sung-min Lee as President Park, there is never a dull moment involved with any character present.

All in all, Woo's film The Man Standing Next is an engaging feature with an excellent set of dominant performances and incredibly well-crafted genre pieces touching on political corruption and espionage.