House once said, “Idiots are fun. No wonder you see one in every village.” Ba:Bo or Miracle of the Giving Fool is about Seong Ryong (Cha Tae Hyun), a mentally challenged man who is loved by everyone except by his little sister Ji In (Park Ha Seon). She is ashamed to be related to him. She even avoids him at his toast stand, which is located near her school.
At the beginning we see Seong-ryong waiting for someone to come back to the village. Then we learned that it was Ji Ho (Ha Ji Won) he’s waiting for all this time. Ever since grade school he was infatuated with her but after he got kicked out of school after being accused of burning the piano, he hasn’t seen her again.
When Ji-ho returned to the village, she didn’t recognize Seong-ryong right away. But she miraculously became fond of him that seemed unrealistic for me. Maybe they need to cut back the movie’s runtime and had to fast track their relationship.
Speaking of the piano, the real culprit was Sang Soo (Park Hee Soon) who at present is Seong Ryong’s bestfriend. He must have felt bad for what he has done and tries to amend for it by protecting Seong-ryong even though he’s the village tough guy.
At this point you might think that the ending would be sweet but things turned tragic. Ji-in skips meals and had to undergo a kidney transplant. They found out that Seong-ryong is incompatible but Sang-soo comes to the rescue.
Oh I almost forgot the important subplot. It’s a love triangle that involves Sang Soo, Hee Yeong (Park Grina) the whore, and the mob boss. They decided to leave the mob boss but he won’t let them. The boss then sent out some thugs to take care of Sang Soo but instead of giving them a photo, he described Sang Soo as having a bandaged hand. As you might have guessed, they have mistaken Seong Ryong as Sang Soo and he was beaten to death. It is a tragic ending to a wonderful movie.
It was nice to see Cha Tae Hyun in a role like this, which is totally different from his previous roles such as in the movies Speedy Scandal and My Sassy Girl. Although it is a very serious role, he still manages to bring out his own sense of humor that would make you smile and make his character likable.
Koreans sure know how to make a twist in the plot to make it unpredictable. You might think that you know where Miracle of the Giving Fool is heading to but it doesn’t go that way. Overall Ba:Bo or The Miracle of the Giving Fool is a must see, especially for those who want to have a good cry.
