Romantic comedy @ better than average...

So the very first review will be for the movie that tuned me in to Korean Cinema. It's a chick flick through and through, Seducing Mr. Perfect (2006) (even the name gives it away). Starring Mr "h0t-enough-to-make-my-bones-melt" Daniel Henney and Uhm Jung Hwa, I could not have picked a more perfect starter movie (for me anyways). Why? Half the movie is in English. Mr Henney is actually half Korean, half American. At the time of that movie, he was not yet comfortable enough to speak Korean with any sense of ease, so his part of the script is entirely in Yongorul (Korean for English). Makes the movie a lot easier to follow for first timers, as you don't spend the entire time playing catch up with either the subtitles or the actors.

But I digress, so back to the subject at hand. For those of you who love romantic comedies, this should be right up your alley. Uhm Jung Hwa plays June, a woman constantly experiencing romantic woes. Her boyfriends keep parting ways with her for some odd reason, probably because she tends to overwhelm them with a mothering streak that has a slight whiff of desperation about it. Daniel Henney plays is her playboy boss Robin Heiden, who is inordinately interested in his subordinate's love life. In the end she turns to him for help to get her "man".

The good news is that its cute. It has all the ingredients for your typical paint by numbers Hollywood fare. However, Mr Henney is unable to do more than smile, smirk and a frown is stretching it, but, man, does he look doing so. He is in my opinion, so stunningly gorgeous throughout the movie, so much so his performance really does not get in the way of the droolfest he is meant to inspire. His Keanu Reeves-esque acting forces Uhm Jung Hwa to ham it up a little, but even so, some chemistry between is can genuinely be felt between the two. Little vignettes from the movie stand out in my mind(my favourite scene is when her actions from a previous night's revelry finally comes back to her in the elevator), and the story is engaging and light hearted.

My major gripe is there are several throwaway scenes, tertiary characters that detract from what could have been a very charming movie if it had focused a little more. The scenes also do nothing to really establish Robin Heiden's previous love life except announcements by exposition from said tertiary characters. It seemed like the script writers were having a bad couple of months and threw their hands up in despair before shrugging and typing something on paper. What it leaves us with is a movie that seems disjointed in places.

Overall it is a pleasant movie that is great for a girls night in with some popcorn and a tub of ice cream.

A solid 3 out of 5 from me if you include Mr Henney, you could take it as a 3.75 out of 5.

Video: Mr Henney playing Creep *sigh*