The Dude in Me review – overlong body swap comedy gets the laughs

Tonal shifts are commonplace in Korean cinema, to the extent that even a very serious procedural about a serial killer might find itself peppered with moments of slapstick and over-the-top comedy. Korean audiences don’t bat an eyelid; Westerners just have to run with it. With a name that makes it sound like an early 2000s Seann William Scott vehicle, Hyo-jin Kang’s The Dude in Me doesn’t run with the notion of tonal shifts as much as it sprints, full pelt, in a dozen directions at once: it’s a body swap movie that mixes melodrama, action, fantasy, romance, comedy, family drama, coming-of-age drama, and high school movie into a film that feels like an odd cross between a sitcom and a K-Pop music video. It’s uneven, but a lot of fun.

The body swap premise here is familiar enough as to feel practically ancient: a corrupt businessman named Jang Pan-soo (Park Sung-woon) cares about nothing except expanding his empire. One day he dines – hold tight – at a mystical ramen shop, where he encounters nerdy, anxious high schooler Kim Dong-hyun (Jung Jin-young). Minutes later, Kim Dong-hyun falls from a rooftop and lands right on top of Jang Pan-soo; when Jang Pan-soo wakes up, he’s swapped bodies with Kim Dong-hyun. The film jettisons Kim Dong-hyun at this point, stranding him in a coma, as the movie finds Jang Pan-soo in Kim Dong-hyun’s “overweight” body as he navigates the trials of a ruthless high school and learns to be a better person.

It’s well-worn fare, but the invested performances, machine gun-like gag rate, and unexpected tonal shifts (meticulously choreographed fight scenes rub shoulders with conversations that seem plucked from a soap opera) make something we’ve seen a hundred times before into oddly compelling viewing. At times jokes miss their mark (the fat-shaming gags begin to feel a little overdone, especially since, despite wearing a fat suit, Kim Dong-hyun isn’t that fat), or get lost in translation (is the most generic sports montage in film history aware of the fact?). At its best, The Dude in Me oozes the warmth of a favourite sitcom, though at two hours plus it’s sure to eventually wear out your patience: just when it seems to be reaching a natural climax, the film unveils a further forty minutes. A shapeless, baggy narrative doesn’t help matters, whilst tighter editing could have cut down the repetition. Still, a film like this would never get made in the Hollywood of 2019. Make of that what you will.

★★★☆☆

By: Tom Barnard

Get The Dude in Me showtimes in London.

This film was screened to the press as part of the BFI London Film Festival 2019. For more information and showtimes for this year’s festival, head to our dedicated page.