It occurs to me that while I've seen and enjoyed countless Korean romantic comedies over the past few years (My Sassy Girl, My Tutor Friend, Please Teach Me English, 100 Days With Mr. Arrogant, Mr. Handy, and Marrying School Girl to name but a few) I haven't really reviewed any for this site. (Windstruck is a bit unconventional, and though I took the time to laud the genre in my review of Bright Girl's Success, that one doesn't count either, since it's a TV show). I guess I usually avoid writing about such films here because I consider them to be a sort of guilty pleasure; the majority of these movies are schmaltzy and melodramatic and predictable, and even though I find them personally enjoyable for some inexplicable reason, I don't expect too many people to share my predilection for them.





So I suppose it might seem odd that I've chosen to break this rule with a review of Oh! Happy Day, which, though a decent enough film, certainly isn't a shining example of the Korean romantic comedy genre. It's a fairly typical outing, with attractive leads, meddling family members, and a cornball plot that only ventures into seriousness long enough for the captivated couple to overcome exactly one hurdle before declaring their love for one another. Nevertheless, I figure there's probably some merit in tackling a film that, while not outstanding, at least manages to hit all the right notes, and succeeds as a reasonably entertaining example of a reasonably entertaining (and definitely esoteric) genre.

Hie-ji (or Hee Jee, depending on how you want to romanize it), is the film's heroine. Played by the spunky pop star Jang Na-Ra (Bright Girl's Success, My Love Patzzi), she's a nice girl, but one prone to weird violent outbursts and obsessive episodes; for example, she puts in a headlock anyone who happens to fall asleep or otherwise misbehave in the voice-over class she teaches, and when she meets and is somewhat smitten by the film's male lead (Hyeon-jun, played admirably by a constantly befuddled Park Jung-Chul) she decides to track him down and win his love by...well, by breaking into his apartment, stealing his appointment book, and using the knowledge of his schedule to follow him around town in the hope that they'll "accidentally" bump into each other in a romantic way.

Hyeon-jun is confused as hell by the girl's antics, and annoyed, but finds that he has to be nice to her for the sake of his company -- in a convoluted attempt to win him over, or to at least attract his attention, Hie-ji starts up a website that accuses the company he works for of unsavory practices, and later stirs up a protest over a beach development project he'd been working on. He winds up taking her out to dinner a few times, to her delight, but shoots her down after each threat to his company is removed (thing is, he's got a girlfriend, and he doesn't find her peculiarities endearing). Finally, his patience at an end, he threatens to reveal that she once did voice-over work dubbing pornos. After a time he comes to regret threatening her in this way, and further comes to realize that he really did kinda like her after all, which leads to an apology and to the two of them growing steadily closer. (A strange comedic subplot about Hie-ji acquiring hemorrhoids as a result of drinking too much appears in there somewhere, and takes a long time to fizzle out. Unless you're used to earthy Korean humor, this bit might strike you as uncomfortably bizarre, but try to give it a chance -- it really is undeniably funny).





Anyway, Hyeon-jun eventually discovers that Hie-ji stole his appointment book way back in the beginning of the movie, and gets upset. At about the same time his girlfriend -- who had been overseas -- returns to Korea. Uh-oh! Things are looking bleak for our starcrossed couple! Will their relationship survive? Will they overcome this hurdle and finally realize that they were made for each other? Are you kidding me?

The film offers much more comedy than romance, most of it of the earthy, slapstick variety. There is some situational comedy as well, but this tends to fall flat, and is one of the reasons why the movie isn't the equal of, say, My Sassy Girl, which managed to flirt deftly with different types of humor. Jang Na-Ra, as Hie-Ji, however, is eminently watchable; her myriad manic facial expressions are hilarious, and it's hard not to root for her a little.

On the whole, Oh! Happy Day isn't as slick or as polished or as cleanly directed as some other Korean romantic comedies, but it's not really that bad either, and there are definitely one or two laughs to be found in it. Recommended, especially to those of you who are fans of the genre.

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