Lawyers Are Humans Too in Moon Ji Won’s Innocent Witness

As we recently finished watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo there was no better time to finally watch 2019 hit film Innocent Witness penned by Lee Han and Moon Ji Won and starring Jung Woo Sung and Kim Hyang Gi.

We immensely enjoyed watching the hit k-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo so it was only natural to check out the quite popular movie penned by the same screenwriter Moon Ji Won – especially since the characters of the drama talk about the movie and even quote it a few times. Innocent Witness was such a nice watch after work and definitely was worth the popularity. While the movie definitely goes down the heartfelt, somewhat happily unrealistic lane, I did not mind it one bit – sometimes I don’t want my heart completely shattered and on the ground. Let’s talk a bit more in the review below.

From MyDramaList: The story follows the relationship between a lawyer and an autistic student. Soon-ho is an attorney who needs to pay his father’s debt. One day, he is engaged to deal with a murder case: Mi-ran, a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer. Mi-ran claimed that she found her employer dead in his own room. The only witness in this case is an autistic high school student named Ji-woo. To convince Ji-woo to attend the trial as a witness, Soon-ho decides to meet her, and befriends her in order to prove her testimony was false.

No major spoilers ahead – proceed freely:

Source: byeone on Tumblr

As you can tell from the summary the plot of Innocent Witness is somewhat simple, revolving around just one case but the point of the movie isn’t really in the case itself but rather in showcasing the humanity, unexpected friendships, the prejudice autistic people come across in their everyday lives as well as the constant inner battle between what’s good and what’s not. The inner turmoil regarding chasing money so that you can live a normal life while also knowing that that isn’t what you really want and that it’s not the right thing has always been something that speaks closely to me. Jung Woo Sung as Soon-ho was a great choice because he really did this character justice – when he’s on the right path and when he’s not. I enjoyed watching him deliver a warm, relatable performance.

Kim Hyang Gi as Ji-woo was so good – she portrayed a really lovely character that manages to teach others some valuable lessons about life, friendship and trust. While I’m aware that the ending of the movie ended up being more on the hopeful side of things, I think even that was done well. This was never going to be a depressing movie and it was apparent right away. I don’t think this took away anything from the film as it was a really great experience with great acting and a simple but good story until the end. Another shoutout goes to the incredibly talented ladies who I always love watching both in dramas and movies – Jang Young Nam and Yeom Hye Ran (my body is patiently waiting for The Uncanny Counter season two). They know how to pick their dramas and always deliver a top-notch performance.

Innocent Witness might keep you on your toes but it will definitely make you feel some important things and witness (pun indented) a heart-warming, relatable story about two people who despite their differences in many things manage to become friends and to learn something from each other. Realistic or not, it’s a 9/10 in my book and I’d gladly rewatch it.

Header Image Source: Lotte Cultureworks