Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Korean movie review by EonTalk. In today’s written movie review, we will taking a look at the romcom <Nothing Serious>.
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Directed by Jung Ga Young, <Nothing Serious> starred Jeon Jong Seo and Son Seok Gu as the two main leads, and also had some familiar supporting cast members as well, including Gong Min Jung, Kim Seul Ki, Bae Yoo Ram, and Kim Jae Hwa. The movie revolves around a girl that’s sick and tired of relationships and is just looking for casual relations, and a guy that’s tasked with writing a sex column for a magazine company. As the title of the film makes clear, there isn’t anything much serious about the movie, and is more of a light, casual watch. However, that’s not to say that it’s not worth watching; no, far from it. Let’s take a look at the detailed synopsis before diving deeper into the review.
The synopsis is as follows:
Nothing is going her way for Ja-Young. From work to her love life, everything was going downhill. Thus, she declares to never date again. However, not much later, she feels extreme loneliness, and decides to try out a dating app to find a S.P, aka Sex Partner. Not much is better for Woo-Ri, who works at a magazine company and is tasked to write a sex column. Thus, he signs up and tries out a dating app for the first time. And that’s how Ja-Young and Woo-Ri first meet, without revealing things like their names, reasons for meeting, or anything personal. What was expected to be a one-time thing, turns into what can only be seen as a “relationship.” But will these two be able to get past that casual relationship and blossom into something more?
The Good
Right from the opening scene, the movie starts off with a very “strong” scene. It’s one of the very few sexual scenes the movie has, but was definitely a big impact right from the start. Contrary to what I had expected, the movie didn’t really have visually sexual scenes, minus the opening that I just mentioned, but rather expressed its “sexual-ness” with the dialogue. It didn’t need nudity to be sexual, and was conversation focused, showing that you don’t need to show skin to be sexy. That plus the cute and funny scenes the film had made it very enjoyable to watch.
And speaking of funny scenes, the movie had numerous humorous scenes and was realistic. It reminded me of <Crazy Romance> in that the dialogues were very real, like how friends in real life say when conversing in real-life situations, and also showing that the whole “friends with benefits” concept is near impossible. One side is bound to start catching feelings for the other.
Moreover, some of (or actually a lot of) the funny parts derived from play on words. For example, the main characters’ names. The female character’s name is “Ham Ja-Young,” which is a play on words that means “Let’s sleep once.” And the male character’s name is “Park Woo-Ri,” which has strong correlations to the slang “Bbaguri,” meaning sex. It’s going to be interesting to see how they translate these lines in English, and how much of it will be able to be adapted into another language while still keeping the humor.
Also, I must mention the actors. The two main leads had great chemistry, and it was great to see Jeon Jong Seo in a comedic role. She left such a huge impression in her previous works of <Burning> and <The Call>, so I’m not gonna lie, those images I had of her from past films still lingered while watching this, but she also showed new sides with the more romcom-esque feel. I believe it was with this movie that I first saw Son Seok Gu on the big screen, and his drunk acting was really funny to watch. He also got his name out even further after this and starring in the film <The Roundup> aka “The Outlaws 2.”
The Bad
Although <Nothing Serious> had numerous humorous scenes and had me chuckling and entertained throughout, I have to say there wasn’t anything special about the story. It was a typical romcom narrative, and was pretty predictable. However, how they played out and executed that typical, generic story is what made it special.
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Verdict
In sum, <Nothing Serious> was a realistic romcom. It’s good to see that Korean cinema is opening up with more sexual content nowadays, and not shy to make those sexual comedies; I mean in terms of words and not just visuals. We saw this in <Crazy Romance>, and in this as well. The progression and how the movie plays out, as well as the dialogue and chemistry between the main leads was really fun, and the film had a good duration as well. Just when it felt like it was getting loose and slow, the movie finished. Definitely a recommendation for a good light romcom watch.
Ticket Price Value: $12
(Ticket Price Value is the price I would pay to watch the film again for the first time)
What were your thoughts on the movie? Do you agree or disagree with my review? What would your ‘Ticket Price Value’ be? Leave a comment down below!
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Disclaimer
Please keep in mind this review is composed of solely my own opinions, and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am in no way a professional writer, nor have I majored or studied journalism. This is for informative entertainment purpose only, representing my personal views. I do not own the images and/or videos used in the review. No copyright infringement intended.