The Accidental Detective (2015)

A true-crime enthusiast and a washed up cop facing demotion launch a joint murder investigation to help a mutual friend who is wrongfully charged with murder.

Director:

Jeong-hoon Kim

Writer:

Jeong-hoon Kim

Stars:

Sang-Woo Kwon, Dong-il Sung, Yeong-hie Seo

Cast

Credited cast:
Sang-Woo Kwon	...	Kang Dae-man
Dong-il Sung	...	Noh Tae-soo
Yeong-hie Seo	...	Mi-ok
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dae-han Ji	...	Jang-Ho
Bok-rae Jo	...	Lee Yoo-No
Park Jun-Myun	...	Bakery shop woman
Il-hwa Lee	...	Detective No's wife
Seung-Joon Lee	...	Yong-Gyu (as Seung-joon Lee)
Moo-Je Min	...	Sun-Hye's husband
Jeong-se Oh	...	Hospital patient
Hae-Joon Park	...	Joon-Soo
Min-chae Yoo	...	Hot Barista
Kyung-ho Yoon	...	Det. Ma

Storyline

Dae-man is a crime enthusiast who runs a power blog about the country's biggest cold cases. He aspired to be a homicide detective but after years of failed attempts, he now runs a comic store. He walks on eggshells around his wife for failing to provide for the family. But he cannot help himself making daily trips to the police station. One day, his best friend and detective, Jun-su, is charged with the murder. Dae-man sets out to investigate to prove his friend's innocence. Only the washed up Detective Noh offers to help his colleague in trouble. A cold case specialist blogger's theory coupled with field experience of a seasoned detective and the two launch a joint investigation into their friend's alleged murder.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

24 September 2015 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Tam jeong: Deo bigining

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

KRW0 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cree Pictures, Frontier Works Comic

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by The Accidental Detective 2: In Action (2018)

User Reviews

Clichéd...but worth your time.

After you've seen quite a few television detective shows, you start to notice a few clichés that keep repeating themselves. Well, the Korean film, "The Accidental Detective", is filled with many of these familiar story elements...yet still is satisfying and worth your time.

When the story begins, a police detective is being arrested for the murder of his wife. However, his friend just can't accept it. Why would Jun-su kill his wife? After all, he's a gentle man...and Dae- man has known him all his life. So Dae-man decides to investigate the case himself to prove his friend is no killer. There is a slight problem with this plan, however....Dae-man is not a detective and he's just some guy who owns a failing comic book store! At the same time, Detecive Noh of the police force is in trouble with his boss. Noh isn't a particularly bright or accomplished policeman and is being pressured to quit the force. Can he team up with Dae-man to bring the real killer...or killers...to justice?

The idea of a private citizen solving crimes is ludicrous....but so common in police shows like "Murder, She Wrote" and "Diagnosis Murder" that we accept the idea. So a comic book man solving crimes is something, while completely impossible, is something most viewers can readily accept. Likewise, the bickering mismatched partners is a cliché practically as old as time...and what you've already seen in many films over the years ("48 Hours" quickly comes to mind). Even the solution to the crimes is something we've seen before in a Hitchcock film! So don't expect a lot of originality in The Accidental Detective. Yet, despite all this against it, the overall film is rather enjoyable and filled with tension...so it might still be worth your time. I liked some of the story elements and the solution to the crimes kept my interest. Not a brilliant film by any standards, but worth seeing despite its flaws.