"Plan Man" stars Jung Jae-young as a 40ish Librarian who suffers from a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. His daily routines follow a rigorous time-table in every aspect, and besides he's obsessed with keeping things clean and avoiding germs. In fact, his lifestyle makes Hercule Poirot look positively untidy.
He has, however, a soft spot for an apparently equally tidy girl who works at the local 7-Eleven, which he visits during lunch hour at the same time every day. Then fate steps in, as he crosses paths with the girl's sister, a carefree club singer who dreams of attending an Idol type singing contest.
The movie is a fusion of genres as always in Korean cinema, with some romance, some melodrama and a few laughs, some of which involve the psychiatrist and the patients in a therapy group which the plan man attends twice a week.
There's also a huge emotional payoff, triggered by the appearance of an ex-game show host who recognises the plan man as the wonder child with an IQ of 200 who once visited his show.
Jung Jae-young fares well in the title role by making the character sympathetic despite his nervous stuttering and slight panic every time someone messes up his plans. Like John Cleese in "Clockwise" (1986), he gets plenty of opportunity to "lose it".
The movie is as slick as an artificial studio production from the 50s or 60s, and it's not particularly profound, but I thought it was good fun.
He has, however, a soft spot for an apparently equally tidy girl who works at the local 7-Eleven, which he visits during lunch hour at the same time every day. Then fate steps in, as he crosses paths with the girl's sister, a carefree club singer who dreams of attending an Idol type singing contest.
The movie is a fusion of genres as always in Korean cinema, with some romance, some melodrama and a few laughs, some of which involve the psychiatrist and the patients in a therapy group which the plan man attends twice a week.
There's also a huge emotional payoff, triggered by the appearance of an ex-game show host who recognises the plan man as the wonder child with an IQ of 200 who once visited his show.
Jung Jae-young fares well in the title role by making the character sympathetic despite his nervous stuttering and slight panic every time someone messes up his plans. Like John Cleese in "Clockwise" (1986), he gets plenty of opportunity to "lose it".
The movie is as slick as an artificial studio production from the 50s or 60s, and it's not particularly profound, but I thought it was good fun.
