Going by the Book (2007)

Seriously, after finishing the movie, just before the credits all I could say was 'waah, Daebak!' The writing and scenarios were gold. You think you know the plot, but then PDnim/writernim twists it and you're left laughing out loud. I was genuinely shocked at times, and I think that's what catapulted this to a 10 instead of a 9. It's not really a funny cop movie. The ensemble cast was perfect, with Jung Jaeyoung leading naturally in his "quirky yet straight man" role. Son Byungho's charisma shone through even when he had few lines. The rest of the cast played their roles to the hilt- milking every gag, compressing tension -adding an absurdist feel to the film. If you like comedy then you have to watch this. The romance is light but you won't miss it -I promise this even though romcoms are my favorite genre.

Bottom line: Going By the Book is a slightly twisted comedy featuring an affable and quirky hero (who's actually a villain -sorta), that you have to see!

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omg can u say a professional again, this man do-man, literally followed orders and went by the book. he was just a regular man working a regular job and was very professional i mean, u cant get away with anything under his watch and he followed all the rules. the police training decided to do a robbery simulation and the director appointed him as the robber because he is the dorky guy that noone respected or took seriously. he went home and studied every bank robbery movie and techniques to not get caught. as the training started and everyone was in position, lets just say things dint go as they expected and 12 hrs later, they were still not able to catch or decipher his moves. very funny movie and the best part was the handling and labelling of hostages

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I have yet to watch a Jung Jae Young movie that was not enjoyable.This movie is quirky and unexpected. From beginning to end it was lots of fun. With the plot summary you think you understand the setup but what on folds on screen is far from what expected. But I guess that's Jung Jae Young's forte. :) Hes so great.

His performance makes the movie. His character is the driving force and provides the conflict for the entire story so it was great to watch how one man could push an entire bank heist movie forward.

Although this film is firmly in the comedy genre it was not without a few very tense scenes and moments of worry, which i appreciated. There were few scenes that had me laughing out loud and rolling on my bed. I couldn't help myself it was exactly my kind of humour and it continued through out the film.

One of the most memorable pieces of music came in one of my favourite scenes involving umbrellas (when you watch you'll know what i'm talking about) the music is what brought out the comedy and it was awesome. I had to re-watch the scene.

Although this was funny movie I thought was a serious underlying message about policing in Korea and corruption. But that message definitely didn't detract from the comedy.

It was a short movie under the 2 hour mark ( which seems to be rare in Korean film) and it was great treat. My only grouse would be the ending scene. I thought the build up of the movie deserved a better ending but it was still a great movie.

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