Mokpo-A Gangster’s Paradise-
This enjoyable comedy is about a wimpy cop, Soo-cheol, who
tries to be tough, but can’t even manage to catch
a petty thief. The only reason he manages to keep his job
is because he’s clever (especially compared to his
dim-witted collegues!) Someone has to go undercover in Mokpo
to bust some gangsters who are trying to unearth drugs from
a sunken ship. He gets the job only because no one else
wants to go. At first, everyone is skeptical that he’ll
be able to infiltrate the gangster’s inner circle,
but he works his way up from a coffee delievery boy and
becomes the mob boss’s right hand man. He’s
rewarded with riches and respect after making some hilarious
sacrifices for the gang. He fights in a pathetic boxing
match, gets taken advantage of by a sex-starved ajuma in
her 50’s and he’s made to eat a live squid,
like in the movie “Old Boy”. While in the mob,
the cop becomes good friends with the soft-hearted crime
boss, Baek Sung-ki. Baek Sung-ki teaches him how to “broaden
his shoulders” and he becomes a lot more confident
under the mob boss's tutelage. Things get a little sticky
when the mob boss falls in love with a female prosecutor
working on the case.
This movie pokes fun at tough-guy gangster movies which
are so popular in Korea. This movie loaded with silly jokes
and ridiculous outfits, a lot of which have homo-erotic
overtones. This movie could have been really bad, but the
lead actors Jo Jae-Hyeon and Cha-In Pyo are so charismatic,
they really managed to pull it off. It’s terrific
to see Jo Jae-Hyeon in a comedic role because he's usually
cast in strange and serious roles. It’s not the deepest,
nor the most intellectually stimulating movie in the world,
but it’s worth watching for a few giggles.
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