Themes: Single Life, Twentysomething Life, Looking For Love
Main Cast: Jang Jin-yeong, Lee Beom-su, Eom Jeong-hwa, Kim Ju-hyuk
Release Year: 2003
Country: KR
Run Time: 107 minutes
Plot
Na-nan (Jang Jin-yeong of The Foul King) is nervously approaching 30, unhappy and uncertain about her future. Her boyfriend, realizing that they are just going through the motions, breaks up with her. Her patronizing boss takes credit for her excellent work and has her transferred to the corporation's restaurant division, where one of her responsibilities is to enthusiastically greet patrons at the local Chili's. Her friends, promiscuous playgirl Dong-mi (Eom Jeong-hwa of Marriage Is a Crazy Thing) and the shy, bookish Joon (Lee Beom-su) share an apartment, but there's no romance between them. Joon is seeing a younger woman who strings him along, and he resents Dong-mi's endless procession of lunkheaded boyfriends. Dong-mi has her own problems at work and is eventually driven to take drastic action against her lecherous boss. Na-nan, unhappy at her job, takes notice when Su-heon (Kim Ju-hyuk) begins frequenting the restaurant, always with a special request for her attention. But he doesn't make a move. One night, Na-nan's oafish boss stops by Chili's to "boost sales" and casually insults her, prompting Su-heon to defend her, making his feelings known. Their relationship develops slowly. Na-nan begins to fall for him, only to learn that he's being transferred to the United States and wants her to come with him. Meanwhile, Joon gets dumped and falls into the arms of Dong-mi. They spend a drunken night together that threatens to destroy their friendship. Singles, based on a novel, was directed by Kwon Chil-in, and was shown at the 2004 New York Korean Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
There's nothing particularly original or unique about Singles, but director Kwon Chil-in brings it enough poppy energy and well-observed humor to make it all seem fresh and palatable. Among the film's chief assets is a charming lead performance from the lanky, tomboyish Jang Jin-yeong. Jang delivers an intelligent and slyly understated performance as Na-nan, the film's cutely goofy central character and narrator. While the script by No Hye-yeong and Park Hun-su makes a weak effort at satire by drawing attention to its similarity to other romantic comedies (as when Na-nan, walking home from breaking up with her boyfriend, tells the audience that in a movie, it would begin to rain right about now, and -- on cue -- it does), this in itself is a pretty familiar trope by now. But the film overcomes this with its genuinely funny insights into work and love, and its emotional honesty about the nature of romantic relationships among attractive, intelligent thirtyish singles who haven't quite figured out where they're going. Na-nan's workplace situation draws big laughs, even though we empathize with her humiliation. Anyone who's ever worked in a service-industry job will identify with her as the forced cheerfulness of her workplace demeanor spills over into her personal life, most hilariously at an engagement party where, trying to make a positive impression on her ex, she nervously greets him with, "Hello, welcome to Chili's!" The trajectory of the two romantic relationships in the film seems predictable, but the film holds some surprises. The ending isn't particularly satisfying, at least not in the way a big-budget Hollywood romantic comedy would have to be, but it seems like a refreshingly honest assessment of where these characters are in life. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Cast
Jang Jin-yeong - Na Nan
Lee Beom-su - Jung-Joon
Eom Jeong-hwa - Dong-Mi
Kim Ju-hyuk - Soo-Heon
Credit
Lee Jin-Ho - Art Director, Im Chung-yeol - Co-producer, Kim Jae-ah - Costume Designer, Kwon Chil-in - Director, Shin Min-gyeong - Editor, Choi Seong-min - Executive Producer, Jo Seong-woo - Composer (Music Score), Kim Jun-suk - Composer (Music Score), Kim Jae-hong - Cinematographer, Romeo Noh - Producer, Cha Sung-jae - Producer, Live Tone - Sound/Sound Designer, Park Heon-su - Screenwriter, Roh Hae-yeong - Screenwriter, Seong Gi-yeong - Screenwriter, Toshio Kamata - Book Author
