YADANG: THE SNITCH Review: Informant Turns Against Corrupt Cop

When the son of a rich industrialist is arrested for drugs, he turns to fixer Lee Kang-su (Kang Ha-neul) to avoid jail time. Code-named "Yadang," Lee brokers plea deals for druggies, who rat out their suppliers in exchange for freedom.

With his couture outfits and massive cars, Lee dismays Oh Sang-jae (Park Hae-joon), a narcotics detective trying to stem a flood of lethal "blue" meth from North Korea. Lee interrupts one of Oh's sting operations in a chase that smashes a dozen cars and demolishes a storefront. It also nets Lee almost $200,000 in bribes.

Three years earlier, Lee, then a struggling rideshare driver, was busted for drugs after being framed by a pusher. Prosecutor Ku Gwan-hee (Yoo Hai-jin) offers Lee a deal: if he can infiltrate a drug gang in jail, his sentence will be reduced.

Facing mandatory retirement unless he can win a big case, Ku is ruthless in pursuing high-profile suspects. Lee is freed after he betrays a gang leader.

Lee and Ku work out a system of trapping low-level dealers, getting them to turn on their suppliers, then scoring big convictions while helping themselves to money and drugs.

Oh, a by-the-book cop, has his own stable of informants, including aspiring actress Uhm Su-jin (Chae Won-been). She was the victim of gangster Yeom Tae-su, who hooked her on "diet" pills. Now she has to find evidence against Yeom to save her career.

Uhm tips Oh off to a drug rave at the Laurel Hill Hotel thrown by Cho Hoon, son of presidential candidate Cho Sang-taek and a major client of the Yamamoto drug ring. Lee, who has a camera hidden in his eyeglasses, captures incriminating footage of Cho when he crashes the rave.

Outside the hotel, Ku and his team take the case away from Oh and his cops. As a result, Uhm is arrested. Meanwhile, Cho's dad leans on Ku to protect his son. That leaves Lee hanging in the air.

That's right, at least a half-dozen plot lines vie for attention in Yadang: The Snitch, all of them obvious to anyone who's ever watched an episode of Law & Order. Director Hwang Byeong-gug generates some stylish suspense while juggling characters, but the movie starts to fall apart at the half-way point.

That's when Uhm reverts to drug addiction, Oh is arrested on trumped-up charges, and Lee is beaten and set afire by Yeom and his thugs. If that's not enough, Ku makes a deal with Cho Hoon to propel his father into the presidency.

All these reversals wear on viewers, who have to adjust to a complete reset in which Uhm, Oh and Lee are suddenly partners against Yeom, Ku, and Cho. Not that the ideas change: they're still the same tropes about stakeouts and wires and tips from angry addicts.

Kang Ha-neul is fun to watch as a reckless snitch, not so hot when he finds a conscience. Yoo Hai-jin has been a reliable presence in Korean films and TV for decades, most recently in Exhuma. His prosecutor Ku is an entirely credible villain, primarily because Yoo plays him so casually. Park Hae-joon adds some nuance to his narcotics detective, despite a script that relegates him to the background.

Occasionally telling details emerge from the convoluted plotting. Ku says, "A Korean prosecutor can make or break a president," coming pretty close to the recent political upheavals in South Korea. But for the most part Yadang: The Snitch coasts on bits and pieces of any number of other drug thrillers.

(Image courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment.)

The film is now playing in select U.S. movie theaters, via Well Go USA. Visit their official site for more information.