This is one of those movies that deliver precisely what you expect and true to the Korean tradition of comedy laced with drama it manages to be highly entertaining. The plot follows a hustler who runs into debt because of his father's scamming ways. He is hired by an old lady to locate her long lost granddaughter and sets out to the countryside around the area the then child was last seen 25 years ago. He ends up pretending to be a doctor and staying at the house of a ditzy young woman who had a daughter at age 15, the mother/daughter relationship being a rocky one. The advent of the hustler complicated matters further especially when he is driven to marry the mother in order to get access to her bank account when his original money making project fails.
It is the old routine of the crook who starts off pretending to love the underdog only to fall in love for real but the execution is so flawless one is drawn in. The relationship between the very immature young and highly studious daughter has been seen before as well but both actresses are great in their role and play off each other beautifully. This angle is probably the best aspect of the whole movie. The daughter is a bit embarrassed because her mother is so young and often lashes out but there are touching moments between them that endear the viewer. In one particular moment she tells the hustler that she does love her mother that she will never have a love that causes people to look down on her.
The fact that the mother and daughter are only 15 years apart makes the slapstick between them very effective and the way they both vie for the same man forms one of the funniest elements.
As for the hustler himself he gets plenty of character development as well and his moments of frustration as he tries desperately to scramble for money will put a smile on anyone's face. The contrast between his handsome charming persona and his real self is pulled off greatly thanks to the overall acting talent that abounds in the cast.
And speaking of the cast, we have the three stooges in the shape of the town's silly guys one of which has been courting the mother for ages with no success. They are purely there for comedy relief until the very end in one of the few surprising moments in the movie.
It is never hilarious but it is funny enough with the expected dip into drama about two thirds into it. But it does not get too tragic, the movie knows how to keep lighthearted with enough depth to keep it from being fluff.
My only complaint is that it is difficult to believe that the hustler could fail to notice some very obvious facts until the plot demanded that he found them out.
Overall, this is a very Korean comedy movie: beautifully acted, with great chemistry between the characters, very solid and with just the right amount of drama. Viewers familiar with this stripe of cinema will love it as long as they do not expect much originality, those less familiar will find in this movie a good entry into one of the best cinema in the world.
It is the old routine of the crook who starts off pretending to love the underdog only to fall in love for real but the execution is so flawless one is drawn in. The relationship between the very immature young and highly studious daughter has been seen before as well but both actresses are great in their role and play off each other beautifully. This angle is probably the best aspect of the whole movie. The daughter is a bit embarrassed because her mother is so young and often lashes out but there are touching moments between them that endear the viewer. In one particular moment she tells the hustler that she does love her mother that she will never have a love that causes people to look down on her.
The fact that the mother and daughter are only 15 years apart makes the slapstick between them very effective and the way they both vie for the same man forms one of the funniest elements.
As for the hustler himself he gets plenty of character development as well and his moments of frustration as he tries desperately to scramble for money will put a smile on anyone's face. The contrast between his handsome charming persona and his real self is pulled off greatly thanks to the overall acting talent that abounds in the cast.
And speaking of the cast, we have the three stooges in the shape of the town's silly guys one of which has been courting the mother for ages with no success. They are purely there for comedy relief until the very end in one of the few surprising moments in the movie.
It is never hilarious but it is funny enough with the expected dip into drama about two thirds into it. But it does not get too tragic, the movie knows how to keep lighthearted with enough depth to keep it from being fluff.
My only complaint is that it is difficult to believe that the hustler could fail to notice some very obvious facts until the plot demanded that he found them out.
Overall, this is a very Korean comedy movie: beautifully acted, with great chemistry between the characters, very solid and with just the right amount of drama. Viewers familiar with this stripe of cinema will love it as long as they do not expect much originality, those less familiar will find in this movie a good entry into one of the best cinema in the world.
