Donggabnaegi gwawoehagi (2003)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Kyeong-hyeong Kim

Writers:

Soo-Wan Choi (writer)
Choi Soo-Wan (writer)

Release Date:

30 January 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

A man from a wealthy family who should be in his second year of college, is still finishing his highschool requirements. His family hire a tutor for him who is his own age but she comes from a poor background.

Cast

Ha-Neul Kim	...	Su-wan
Sang-woo Kwone	...	Ji-hoon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Il-seob Baek	...	Ji-hoon's Father
Yoo Gong	...	Jong-soo
Ji-woo Kim	...	Ho-kyeong
Yu Kong	...	Jong-soo

Also Known As:

My Band5 BoyFriend (Hong Kong: English title) (new title)
My Tutor Friend (International: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:110 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:12

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Amor Chicko" (2007)

Enjoyable ride for the most part

Like "My Sassy Girl", this movie is based on a true story posted from the internet, but that's where the similarities end. The story is generally about this rebellious guy named Ji-Hoon (Kwon Sang Woo) who is still trying to finish high school, whose parents hire a tutor named Su-Wan (Kim Ha Neul), a woman who comes from a poor background, but happens to be the same age as him. Add to that some obstacles, martial arts (thugs are always after Ji-Hoon for revenge), a scorned, thuggish love-sick girl who is after him, his proclivity for ditching the lessons, and you generally can guess the whole story. Did I mention it's a romantic comedy? This movie has some good fight scenes, great visual humor and a lot of spunk, thanks to the good chemistry between Kim Ha Nuel and Kwon Sang Woo, that bring a lot of energy to the story. The romantic elements also work because of that reason. And, I must say, I'd want a girlfriend more like Kim Ha Nuel than that girl from "My Sassy Girl" (personality-wise, at least). She has some spunk, but it's more on the cute, sweet, good-hearted way. Characters are already mostly likable (so one might say it had less of a hill to climb than "My Sassy Girl"--an obstacle that worked for that movie to its credit), and the movie is quite clever and interesting most of the way. The story kind of sags, though, about 2/3 of the way (where it sort of treads on familiar, standard fare, where nothing really interesting happens), but near the end, it picks up a bit again. Overall, a fun, cute movie. 8/10