THE COAST GUARD is a Korean picture by Kim Ki Duk, the guy who made 3-IRON. Since I love 3-IRON, I was all set to love this picture, as well. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.
South Korea is one of the few countries on Earth that actively patrols its beaches. Since the Korean War cease-fire, North Korea has consistently sent spies and saboteurs south to either do a quick hit-and-run or blend into society and await the call to action. There have been no confirmed infiltrations since 2000, but South Korean soldiers on coast guard duty continue to patrol, and they continue to have authorization to shoot anyone who they see on the beach at night. THE COAST GUARD is about one such soldier, a particularly gung-ho career man who shoots (and grenades) a man he thinks is an infiltrator, but who is actually just a drunk kid having sex on the beach. The soldier comes unglued, the kid's paramour goes insane, and things go downhill from there.
It's a good movie; a perfectly fine movie; but I've seen post-traumatic stress disorder movies before and I've seen military unit falling apart movies before. THE COAST GUARD doesn't add anything new to those concepts, and the print on the DVD is muddy and old. THE COAST GUARD doesn't give one much food for thought and it doesn't dazzle the eye, so we're left with a particularly good Movie of the Week.
As I said, it's a fine movie. But it's no 3-IRON.
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