Yeongeo wanjeonjeongbok

This is an overly slapsticky date movie starring Lee Na-young as an uber-dorky (and therefore uber-cute) public service drone encouraged by her coworkers to take an English class in an effort to improve relations with English-speaking customers. In the class, our heretofore loveless heroine falls fast for suave shoe salesman (Jang Hyuk), a slick player who has played far less frequently than he lets on and who's taking the class so he can communicate with his American-raised sister, who was given up for adoption as a child. Lee's infatuated. Jang thinks she's a dork (which she is) and is himself besotted with the English teacher (Angela Kelly, one of the precious few white actors in Korean films with actual acting skill as of 2003; pity she seems to have ventured behind the camera in low-level tech jobs since this). Characters are broadly drawn (with the exception of Kelly, oddly enough), which means gags are plentiful; some stick, some slide down the wall, and others are delivered with little animated word bubbles and cartoon heads that pop up on screen, The mangled use of English by the leads and their classmates carries a certain charm for both Korean and non-Korean audiences, but the picture is done irreparable damage in it's third act when the American sister shows up, played by a beautiful woman with seemingly no acting ability and a little-girl voice. Her scenes with Jang and their guild-ridden mother are supposed to be one of the film's melodramatic high points, but this performer's absolute wrongness for the part stops the movie dead in its tracks. I can't seem to find this woman's name anywhere online, but perhaps its for the best.

When "Please Teach Me English" begins, you KNOW it is NOT a normal film! Its opening credits are adorable...and done using cute Korean animation. The story is about a very, very strange lady who is like a Korean version of Steve Urkel! To say she is nerdy and awkward is definitely an understatement! She is volunteered to take English language classes, as no one in her department knows English and they feel that SOMEONE should--thus Candy is nominated. Once there, she immediately falls for a cute guy named Elvis, but Elvis is only interested in their cute teacher. In addition, Elvis seems like a player--and what would this sort of guy see in socially awkward Candy?! To see what's next, see this film!

There is so much to like about this film. It's strange style is exciting to watch. Some may hate this, some might love this. I would compare it to "Scott Pilgrim Versus the World" or "Happiness of the Katakuris"--two very surreal films with strange interludes and stranger style. So, for example, when characters dream--you see it! The film also benefits from some adorable characters who are easy to like and the film has many funny AND romantic moments. My assumption is that the film would work better for younger audiences as well as those who like very unconventional comedy. If you want your film to be normal or conventional, then keep looking!

By the way, there are a couple observations about the English teacher. I was startled when her voice when she spoke Korean was clearly NOT hers--as it was much deeper. Also, early in the film, she had an American accent. However, late in the film she clearly sounded like an Australian. I would love to know from where she actually was born and/or raised.

i completely disagree with the posted review i usually give people the benefit of the doubt but this movie is quite funny and i think the usage of different movie mediums (ie animation, documentary)added a very cute yet thoughtful comedic value. It is a romantic comedy and not much should be weighed upon the realism but there are some pleasant real life twists and communicational misunderstandings and misinterpretations that give the movie a nice personal relevance. Also the underlying theme of the importance of people worldwide learning English as a necessity is mind opening.Especially how it is presented. The movie Isn't very serious or artsy which makes the point of people having trouble worldwide with being forced to learn English that much easier to witness for those of us who grew up in a place where English is the native language. I definitely recommend this film for fun and definitely for anyone who has the experience of being forced to learn English.

When this movie came out, English was the rage since Asians tend to think the English language to be cool. That is probably the reason why there is random Asian words on shirts and other clothing in Korea, some that don't even make sense. This whole movie when it comes to the humor is driven by mistranslation and mispronunciations. So audiences that know how to speak English and understand Korean culture is going to get a bit of a kick out of this movie. My friend who is Korean couldn't stop smirking most of the way through this movie. The plot revolves around slightly odd people coming together in a class to learn English. But mostly has to do with two of the students in that class. One is a dorky and flirtatious guy that tries to pick up girls using English and is played by the actor Jang Hyuk. This is the reason I like Jang Hyuk, he is cool and charming actor and yet he doesn't mind acting like a bit of a dork and doesn't try overly hard to appear cool and gentleman like all the time. Which makes him seem like a comfortable person to be around because of his appearance of being a honest person with himself. He is basically a Korean heartthrob but it's cool he takes on roles like this. The female lead is a dorky and yet cute girl played by the actress Lee Na-Young who is actually but made herself look nerdy as possible for this role. This is a very low budget Korean romantic comedy that is cute and to some degree charming even when it comes the humor that is delightful to watch.

7.2/10

Even though the character development are not as established as hoped, this movie comes off as a pleasant surprise. The scene transitions are not always smooth, and there are a few odd tacks in the script course, but it does come off altogether as a cute date movie. The production techniques are very good, with some interesting animation along the way that enhance the whole scene. Especially the fighting game sequence.

The acting was good; Hyuk Jang was good here, better than Windstruck I think. But the top acting goes to Mun-hee Na as Moon-Su's mother. There is a fairly dramatic section about a reunion of separated family that she really carries home. The dramatic portion cut into a lot of the comedy and seemed out place, but it did add some additional depth to the otherwise thin story line.

Some of the character interaction were not clear but as a whole it was well done and comes off as time well spent.