Oh! Haepi dei

OH HAPPY DAY! (2003) Directed and written by Yun Hang-ryeol.

Wrongheaded, often irritating 'comedy' purports to send up the the ubiquitous, vertically oriented Korean class structure, then ultimately plays by the rules as yet another 'constructed romance' movie in which the goal for any girl who knows what she wants is to want a rich, educated pretty boy. Except in this case the gal, by all rights and no thanks to smart screen writing, SHOULD be a secondary character who ultimately gets dumped in favour of leading lady Jang Na-ra, who spends nearly the entire movie looking and acting EXACTLY like Rachel Dratch on Saturday Night Live (and I mean that in the meanest possible way) as a voice actress making life miserable for the shallow Club Med executing (Pak Jeong-chol) who denied her homely friend a spot on a singles group holiday. That he actually begins to fall for her, to the point of ultimately dumping his successful girlfriend - who is never once painted as a bad person, just a bit superficial - is either this film's most clever bit of dark satire or the most egregiously stupid moment in an ill-conceived screenplay. I'm leaning toward the latter. Korean cultural and cinematic traditions are sometimes cleverly held up for ridicule - Jang's mother takes physical discipline to room-trashing levels of excess, while Jang's mid-film collapse beside a blood-filled toilet turns out to be a bad case of hemorrhoids - but in the end, the parents know best when it comes to forcing people together based on status, and a staggeringly contrived scheme is hatched to drive home the point, culminating in - of all things - a big musical number featuring the ENTIRE cast! The film is ultimately hobbled early on by relentlessly overblown performances that mistake volume and force for wit - Jang's scrunchy-faced eye popping grows tiresome very very quickly. We do however, get the following standard Korean ingredients: K-pop, tears, snowfall, and head slapping, the latter mild enough to rate this a 2 on the Korean Cranial Abuse Scale.

The picture, however, also rates a 2, largely for the usual glossy tech specs.

...but is it because it is funny or is it because of the insane, over-the-top performance of Na-Ra Jang (Ms. KONG). There isn't one second of her screen time where she isn't making a funny face (and by funny i don't necessarily mean that you will laugh). There is really no chemistry between her and Jeong-cheol Park (KIM). Somehow, though, i sat through the whole thing and found myself laughing. There were a couple really funny moments and couple chuckles. There were also parts where i could tell it was supposed to be funny, but something was obviously lost in translation. Unfortunately that happened too often and the movie became confusing at points. But since this is a mindless romantic comedy, you soon forget the inconsistencies and take it for what it is. I would only recommend it for you crazies (like me) who can't get enough of Asian romantic comedies. I know they will never catch on in the US... and maybe rightfully so.

We need to accept the fact that romantic comedy hit 'My Sassy Girl' (2001) popularized the 'weak male strong female' genre in South Korea. Jeon Ji-hyun is one of the most expressive and versatile South Korean artistes. However, 'Oh! Happy Day' seems like a weak clone of the original successful formula.

The ending of this film contains a string of childish slapstick scenes. The characters start to dance, sing illogically and engage in celebrations. I strongly urge fans of Jang Nara to rate this film carefully and slowly.

Mao points: 4/10

Very good! That's what I'm telling about this good movie. The story so refreshing and enjoyable. May be nobody will act like Jang Na ra in a real world but that's what make this movie good.

In Korea movies I always saw the ending was not perfect at all, if the first time we saw it's funny then at the middle it's begin boring and nonsense until he ending. But HAPPY DAY so different, it's already interesting at the first time continued until the ending it still perfect.

Beside the soundtrack that jang and her duet partner sing is absolutely good and perfect for the movie.

One thing: HAPPY DAY IS REALLY FUNNY MOVIE!

I really liked this movie. It is so so funny that I watched it twice. Here is a short summary. It is a funny story of a middle age korean girl who comes up with many ways of starting a relationship with a man who is not interested in her. It is about time that the roles of dating in movies are different from the usual boy chases girl. Now it is the girl who chases the boy for a relationship. This is a great comedy date movie with a surprise in the end.