Set in the port city of Busan, “Marine Boy” centers around Cheon-su (played by Kang-woo Kim), a swimming instructor that finds himself quickly drowning in a sea of trouble. He loses money that he doesn’t even have in a high stakes poker game. A few days later loan sharks come to inflict permanent damage upon Cheon-su. He is then saved by another group of criminals. The gang, led by Kang (Jae-hyeon Jo), saves Cheon-su to recruit him as their “Marine Boy” – a body packing drug mule required to swim across the ocean. Cheon-su reluctantly agrees to work with the criminal gang, especially enticed by Kang’s beautiful associate Yu-ri Choi (Si-yeon Park). Yu-ri has her own beef with Kang and attempts to use Cheon-su for her own purposes. Meanwhile, a narcotics agent (played by Won-jong Lee) tries to use Cheon-su as his own pawn to take down Kang.

“Marine Boy” starts off on solid footing as a straight-laced cat and mouse thriller before stepping on the accelerator with the story becoming riddled with trickery, deceit, and manipulation from four different directions. With the script becoming ever more convulated, the actors turn up their performances by becoming increasingly over-the-top or hammy. Does all of this work? Hmmm … in a way it does, because you won’t feel bored for one minute, but then again, you probably won’t feel bored watching Siamese twins recite Shakespearian poetry in a freak show either. The person guilty of taking their character to comical levels of hamminess would lie with Won-jong Lee as the police detective. Perhaps if the filmmakers casted someone more familiar with strong masculine roles than the need to overact would have lessened. Adding more craziness to the film, “Marine Boy” at its most climatic moment turns into a Hitchcock inspired finale (visually speaking).

In no uncertain terms “Marine Boy” is a film that’s packed with excitement, craziness, overacting, tension, and a level of unpredictability derived fairly or unfairly from a script that’s completely over baked. Where else can you watch Si-yeon Park belt out a cringe inducing cover of “No More Lonely Nights?” Beneath all of this madness, “Marine Boy” does seem to have have a level of heart probably gotten from the pairing of Kang-woo Kim and Si-yeon Park. I like “Marine Boy” … just don’t tell anybody I said that.