Columbus (2017)

Jin travels from Korea to Columbus, Indiana where his estranged father has had a medical emergency, resulting in a coma. Meanwhile Casey, a recent high school graduate and architecture enthusiast, is stagnating in the town. The two form an odd friendship focused on the modernist architecture dotting the town and this relationship somehow pushes each of them forward.

It took a while -- nearly 45 minutes -- for this movie to hit its stride. Until that point, I was wondering who sucked all of the joy out of everyone on screen. The scenes seemed to stretch way beyond the point of useful storytelling and the camera was sometimes held away from speakers. There was a particularly disorienting section that vacillated between two different time points and two different settings (a bar and a hotel room) while maintaining the music from the bar for both locations. There seemed to be no gain from this confusing choice.

All that said, it did wind up having something to say and I do want to visit Columbus to see the amazing structures first-hand.

B-