Sex Is Zero

Sex is Zero centers about the development of an awkward college student and his unrequited love for a beautiful girl out of his league, successively delivering the usual dose of masturbation jokes and penis cracks along the way. On the surface, it's a debauched concoction of raunch and libido, blending together to give frat boys another way to find hilarity in promiscuity.

However, at the same time, it cleverly meshes smut and sincerity to form a surprisingly charismatic outcome. A sex comedy --with depth, at that. Something that American Pie and other films in it's genre lacks.

While the film explores the sexual exploits of the surrounding characters, it also digs into the plausible outcomes of the loose lifestyles they exude. There are times where it drops it's crude humor long enough to give the film a weighty, sedate factor as well-- making the overall outcome a memorably genuine movie, worthwhile for horny frat boys and curious onlookers alike.

This film is commonly referred to as the Korean American Pie But it rips off a lot more movies than just that and it is interesting how they are all tied together The other thing that strikes me is how this film is hyped as a raunchy teen sex comedy when its almost the directors intent to get teens to watch it (via gross outs and ample nudity) and then does the traditional Asian cinema swerve into a much more serious (and darker) matter (where the title of this film is explained)

Ha Ji Won is great (again) and pretty much steals the show The secondary characters are good (but often don't get as much attention as they deserve... a side effect of trying to run too many characters/plot lines)

The only negative I will say about this film is it looks kinda amateurish (but I think it was intended that way)

Having watched a number of Korean films over the years, I got hold of this film assuming that in spite of its raunchy title and subject matter there would be little sex, nudity and grossness. Boy was I wrong! This makes American Pie look like children's TV. Sperm sandwiches, masturbating burglars and anal intercourse slapstick mean that the first half of the film is actually very funny. But like other Asian comedies, a light-hearted beginning leads to a serious second half designed to make the conclusion cathartic.

The film begins with Lim Chang-Jung as a student returning to university after completing his military service. Upon his return he falls in love with one of the cute girls in the university, but she only has eyes for the rich boy who oozes superficiality. Nevertheless Lim Chang-Jung befriends her and tries to help her deal with the difficulties of having a superficial, snobbish boyfriend. It is those scenes where he tries to be there for her that totally change the tone of the film. The serious issue of an unwanted pregnancy is dealt with in a way which is very touching and believable, even if there are certain scenes which are over exaggerated (Lim Chang-Jung getting hit over the head with a hammer in the aerobics competition is ridiculous).

There is an element of fantasy in this film, but perhaps it is more from the female perspective. The man who dedicates his life to make a woman happy and is willing to make extreme sacrifices for her sake seems like the type of ideal man in Sex and the City.

Korean movies found their marks with comedy, lavishness, and bit of romance or sexploitation. This is one of the earlier movies of this type that has good plot, and many funny moments.

The movie is about a Korean cheer leading competition, with romance that goes along the way. Many good looking athletic women and men show their skills on screen. I'd say maybe 70% of the entertainment is from the eye candy factor. There aren't any vulgarness to the movie although there are many sexual innuendos.

Korean movies have come a long ways, and the quality of actors have really gone up. The story isn't seamlessly smooth, but this problem goes away with Sex is Zero 2. The movie was pretty experimental when it came out, so that's OK.

I'm all for these cleverly done K movies, and I hope they'd continue making good movies like this one.

SEX IS ZERO is a rather funny film in the style of, as others have noted, AMERICAN PIE. There are three differences: the characters are Korean; the scene is college; and the Third Act is Overwrought Melodrama that completely undermines all the gross out gags of the first hour.

Anyone familiar with Asian films will not be all that surprised by the movie's sudden shift in themes. Tackling a serious topic like abortion in a movie where characters masturbates at just about EVERY given opportunity??? It provides an odd dichotomy, to be sure.

Still, the film is reasonably funny enough, even if all of its gags are telegraphed about 10 minutes beforehand.

6 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie)