Korean Title: 더 박스
English Title: The Box
Running Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Release Date: March 24, 2021
Genre: Road, Musical
Language(s): Korean

Cast: EXO’s Park Chan Yeol (Memories of the Alhambra), Jo Dal Hwan (What Happened to Mr. Cha?)
Directed by: Yang Jung Woong
Written by: Yang Jung Woong

The Box is a road-musical film about a has-been music producer, Min Soo (Jo Dal Hwan) who is searching for his next big artist. During his search, he comes across talented musician, Ji Hoon (Park Chan Yeol), who is unable to perform in front of a live audience as a result of his extreme stage fright.

This is the first feature-length film written and directed by Yang Jung Woong, the executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics. At the same time, The Box stars EXO rapper, Park Chan Yeol in a lead role for the first time in his career alongside acting veteran, Jo Dal Hwan. The jukebox musical film features Chan Yeol showcasing his many musical talents in addition to the ones he projects as a current member of boy group, EXO.

Story

Kim Min Soo (Jo Dal Hwan) is a music producer who works with an artist named, Rothy and builds her up to get casted as a regular singer on a music show called Golden Singers. As she rises to success, she wrongly fires Min Soo and decides to stop performing at his live music bar. After getting fired, Min Soo vows to search for the next big star to beat out Rothy and make a comeback as a big-shot producer.

Ji Hoon (Park Chan Yeol) works the night shift as a valet parker in the area where Min Soo’s music bar is located. He plays the guitar in-between parking cars in the middle of the night while inside the valet booth. Upon hearing the music coming from the valet booth, Min Soo becomes mesmerized and decides that Hoon will be the next artist he will work with. Min Soo immediately drafts up a live-music contract between himself and Hoon and asks him to take on the live performance spot that used to belong to Rothy.

Hoon is confused at Min Soo’s offer since he only plays music as a past time and doesn’t see himself being onstage as an artist. Min Soo continues to pitch the idea to Hoon and assures him there is absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes with his producing skills by sharing that he was the producer who discovered Rothy and built her up to where she is today. Hoon confesses to Min Soo that the reason why he is hesitant to sign the contract is because of his inability to perform in front of an audience as a result of his extreme stage fright.

Determined to make the world hear Hoon’s music, Min Soo heads over to a recycling station to acquire an old refrigerator box. Min Soo sets up a station for Hoon to perform at on the street and tells him to play a popular song while inside the box in hopes that it will combat his stage fright.

Deep inside, Hoon wishes to become a musician and attend the Glastonbury Festival in Europe. As such, Min Soo revises the contract and asks Hoon to try busking in the provincial areas of South Korea (while being inside the refrigerator box) to help him decide if he wants to pursue becoming an artist or not. In the event that Hoon succeeds in the performances, they can continue their music deal. However, if it fails, Min Soo assures Hoon that they will part ways with no regrets, which Hoon ends up agreeing to.

The Verdict

Overall Rating: 5/10

With the influx of idol celebrities in recent history, many projects cast idols in leading roles whether it be in mini-series or feature-length films and I think it’s great that space is being given for everyone to try out their acting chops. However, I’m sure we can all agree on the hearty risk that comes with doing this especially given the many projects that flopped terribly in the past as a result of idols being prematurely cast in lead roles. Having said that, although I would consider myself a fan of Chanyeol’s, given his relatively limited filmography, you can only imagine how nervous I was going into this film…

There is quite a big chance that Chanyeol is only recognizable as an idol rapper through his activities with EXO by people who don’t follow him closely. But in addition to rapping, Chanyeol is actually vastly talented in singing, writing, composing as well as playing many musical instruments. Seeing as this film is a jukebox musical and has an acting veteran like Jo Dal Hwan casted as the opposite lead, The Box is a great way for Chanyeol to transition slowly and strategically into the acting spotlight. The film does an incredible job of giving exposure to Chanyeol’s other talents outside of his image as an idol rapper and also his potential as an actor. Complimented by Jo Dal Hwan’s performance, Chanyeol rises to the occassion in The Box and I’m happy to report that I didn’t find any obvious imbalances between the two lead characters from an acting perspective.

The character backgrounds were set up quite efficiently, with motivations between the two lead characters made crystal clear to the audience within the first 15 minutes of the film. For a huge majority of the film, it jumps from performance to performance - which truly makes the overall plot of this film relatively simple. I would compare the viewing experience of this film to share similarities with Elvis Presley movies in the 50s and 60s. It’s mostly filmed in montage-style and truly feels like you’re following Min Soo and Hoon on a tour across the country - which is exactly what the story is.

The idea of showing musical talent with one’s face concealed has been relatively trendy nowadays (think The Voice or The Masked Singer) and it was interesting to see a movie borrow from that premise. While the The Box is definitely not riveting or life-changing, I still think it’s easy to watch and a passable musical film. I would recommend, that you check out the original soundtrack for this film. Some of the revived tracks are so well-arranged that I can actually imagine myself listening to the songs on a regular day.