Joon-su is a teenage trouble-maker, whose bad conduct angers his parents so much that they run away from home to teach him a lesson. On the same day that his parents leave, Joon-su finds a baby abandoned in a grocery store, along with a note indicating that he is the father.
Leaving an innocent baby with an irresponsible teenager is a recipe for disaster, but Joon-su rises to the occasion admirably. He and the baby are inseparable companions, he cares for its every need, and goes out looking for work when his money runs out. Unfortunately Korean society is just as unkind to teenage parents as elsewhere, so Joon-su eventually gets expelled from school and repeatedly turned down for jobs because he has nobody to care for the baby when he's at work or school. His situation is truly desperate, when his parents opportunely return to save the day.
There is no doubt that Baby and I is hopelessly unrealistic. It's quite unbelievable that an immature teenager like Joon-su will suddenly morph into a responsible young father just because an unknown infant comes into his possession. Nor did I find it to be particularly successful as a comedy. One of the running gags is that the baby refuses to drink formula, so Joon-su needs to approach strange women asking them for breast milk. Ha ha, I guess.
But Baby and I is much too enjoyable a movie to be overly critical of its imperfections. The baby is adorable, the love interest (played by Kim Byeol) with the smartest girl in the school is sweet and believable, and Joon-su is just too decent a guy not to turn out well, even if it does take more time than the compressed plot of the movie allows for. I kept thinking that Joon-su's parents should be thankful that they raised such a fine young man, rather than giving up and running away. Parents everywhere should keep the same thought in mind when facing the inevitable conflicts that come with raising immature teenagers.
Leaving an innocent baby with an irresponsible teenager is a recipe for disaster, but Joon-su rises to the occasion admirably. He and the baby are inseparable companions, he cares for its every need, and goes out looking for work when his money runs out. Unfortunately Korean society is just as unkind to teenage parents as elsewhere, so Joon-su eventually gets expelled from school and repeatedly turned down for jobs because he has nobody to care for the baby when he's at work or school. His situation is truly desperate, when his parents opportunely return to save the day.
There is no doubt that Baby and I is hopelessly unrealistic. It's quite unbelievable that an immature teenager like Joon-su will suddenly morph into a responsible young father just because an unknown infant comes into his possession. Nor did I find it to be particularly successful as a comedy. One of the running gags is that the baby refuses to drink formula, so Joon-su needs to approach strange women asking them for breast milk. Ha ha, I guess.
But Baby and I is much too enjoyable a movie to be overly critical of its imperfections. The baby is adorable, the love interest (played by Kim Byeol) with the smartest girl in the school is sweet and believable, and Joon-su is just too decent a guy not to turn out well, even if it does take more time than the compressed plot of the movie allows for. I kept thinking that Joon-su's parents should be thankful that they raised such a fine young man, rather than giving up and running away. Parents everywhere should keep the same thought in mind when facing the inevitable conflicts that come with raising immature teenagers.