The First Ride: The Friend that Got Away

It’s been a while since I watched something Korean, so I didn’t expect much from this movie that I tried watching yesterday. The cast of this movie were pretty phenomenal because there are a lot of familiar faces that I’ve noticed while watching it, and one of them is Kang Ha-neul! I've already shared here how I find him a really versatile actor. Like way back then, I first watched him portray one of the princes from Scarlet Heart Ryeo, and I definitely disliked him because of his character. Anyway, that impression soon was changed because I saw him again, yet that time he was in Midnight Runners. I never thought that he’d be so good at being goofy and funny. His silly smiles never failed to make me laugh out loud, and so when I saw him in this movie, I was immediately convinced that this would surely be a fun one. Enough with my fangirling, let’s now dive into the story of four fools who became friends.

About the Movie

The First Ride is an adventure comedy movie that was released last year, on October 29. This more than an hour movie was written and directed by Nam Dae-jung. It starred Kang Ha-neul, Kim Young-kwang, Cha Eun-woo, and Kang Young-seok. They all played the main four friends whose bond will be tested as they went to the next stages of their lives, but before that, it all started with one lonely boy. He was born premature, perhaps too excited to see the world, and that led him to experience a hard life in his early days. Growing small both in body and heart, he was isolated from other children, thus making him feel lonelier than ever. Yet his lonely days soon came to an end when he met three odd boys who became his best friends.

It wasn’t long before they grew up—Tae-jung as the ace student, Geum-bok as the master of sleeping with eyes open, Yeon-min as the popular pretty boy, and Dojin as the fallen basketball team captain. They’re all nearing their graduation, and since Yeon-min is moving out of Korea, they all decided to have a trip together. Strangely, even if they’re practically inseparable, they’ve never been able to travel together. However, even though with all the determination and preparation they’ve gathered for their trip, it seemed fate isn’t in favor with them. That’s why they decided to postpone it and settle for the next time. Years later, they all are now adults and are living differently when they decide to finally take on again their long-delayed trip, but this time they seem to have one friend missing…where’s Yeon-nim?

Strangely, the last K-movie I have watched was also directed by Nam Dae-jung, and I just discovered that a while ago. I thought the similarities in the flow and the pacing of those two movies were just a coincidence, but when I learned they’re directed by the same director, it now made sense. From the way it started with happy moments, then a time skip, and then came the conflict and ultimately the resolution—the flow was quite similar, and so were the dialogues. I think that’s really his style as a director, and I don’t have qualms with that. At first, I was quite puzzled about who was doing the narration, but as soon as I got the gist of the story, I somehow predicted what would happen next.

The plot was pretty predictable, yet I guess the execution made up for it. As usual, the comedic scenes were really enjoyable and funny. Indeed, I wasn’t disappointed with my expectations of Kang Ha-neul portraying his character because again, I really laughed at his silly facial expressions. All actors and actresses did their roles well, but for me, it’s really Kang Ha-neul who nailed his role. He’s really good at acting all goofy and silly, but that wasn’t the only thing he’s good at because even in his drama scenes, I definitely felt the emotions deeply. I was especially moved in the confrontation scene because it was undeniable how well they acted and delivered their lines in that part. I was so moved that I cried badly, to the point my mother asked what the hell was wrong with me. I explained half-heartedly why I cried because I’m still hung up on how it ended, but fret not, it’s not a tragic end—more like a bittersweet one, really.

Even with its flaws and shortcomings, still I find this movie compelling at some point because it tackled issues that resonate well with me. It’s not always that I get emotionally invested in something I watched, and mostly those that resonate with me on an emotional level have something to do with the memories and experiences I had from my childhood. Before, every day seemed like an exciting day for me—like it was full of possibilities and meanings. Yet as I grew up, everything seemed to feel unexciting and unmemorable, to the point I even forgot the date I’m presently in. So much for that, I also like that they managed to tone down some heavy aspects that would really affect the comedic vibe I get from it. There’s really a lot of foreshadowing from the dialogues to the little details they incorporate in some scenes. Even the warning at the start already hinted at how the story would unfold because even the funniest story could hide a sad truth—well, not necessarily tragic to its core—but yeah, an unhappy one definitely.

Overall, this movie is an 8/10 because even though it isn’t as excellent as I envisioned it to be, it’s still managed to capture my interest. Also, it hooked me emotionally, which is a feat because, like I said, it’s not often I get to feel like that. The plot may be quite generic for a comedy, but still I’m happy the portrayal of the actors made up for it. I certainly didn’t expect Cha Eun-woo to be in that movie because I don’t think his face card is suitable for comedy. Romcom maybe, but just comedy—I did really doubt it. Yet still he managed to portray his role, which suits him well. So if you want to watch an weirdly funny yet unexpectedly emotional movie, then I think you should give The First Ride a go!

Have you watch this movie before? Or is this your first time encountering it? Well, if you have something in mind that you would like to share, feel free to comment below. And I think that would be all for today, everyone~ Thank you for reading up until here, and I hope you somewhat enjoyed reading my review. See you around, and have a happy weekend!