In many ways it seems fair to say that Mum Jokmok is the Thai equivalent to Robin Williams. Those who know him in North America likely do so purely thanks to his role as Dirty Balls (or George, in the tamed down Besson translation) in Ong Bak but the man is a massively popular entertainer in his homeland. Originally a stand up comic Jokmok has carved out an amazingly successful television and film career with a comic persona that involves the frantic expenditure of a great deal of energy, largely by speaking faster and louder than anyone around him. Now, Thai humor doesn’t translate particularly well so Jokmok’s many film appearances come off as largely one note – a very loud note - affairs on these shores so imagine the surprise when he turned up starring in the delicate, magical-realist romance Midnight My Love and – stop the press! – it turns out that when you rein this guy in he’s actually a very good actor.
Midnight My Love Review