My first of three films on Day 3 of the festival was a screening of the South Korean comedy/action film “Geukhanjikeob” aka Extreme Job. The movie came out in South Korean theaters back in January and quickly became a major box office success. At the time of writing this, the film is the second most viewed film in South Korean film history and the one that scored the better gross.
The movie apparently came out “nationwide” in the US (with 26 theaters being the widest release according to boxofficemojo.com) back on February 1st. Never heard of it until this screening. The film should be available to watch on Amazon Prime right now, at least in the US. It’s not available on my end in Canada.
Extreme Job was written by Bae Se-young and directed by Lee Byeong-heon.
The film stars Ryoo Seung-ryong, Lee Hanee, Lee Dong-hwi, Jin Seon-kyu and Gong Myoung.
Here’s a little rundown of the plot of Extreme Job (copied from the Fantasia website):
“Captain Ko leads a small team of detectives from the narcotics unit that often make blunders, which is stopping him from getting the promotion he wants. One day, fortune finally smiles on them, as they discover that, directly in front of the hideout of a major drug trafficker, a fried-chicken restaurant is about to go out of business. The cops decide to buy the joint in order to do surveillance. Alas, customers eventually start to flock there, attracted by the new recipe of sticky chicken with rib marinade, so much so that the restaurant becomes a sensation. Will this unexpected success make our police squad forget the actual goal of their operation?”
As silly as that rundown sounds, this movie works very well. The movie might run a little long, but I thought it was a fun idea, and I had a really good time this afternoon. The adventures of this group of cops hit multiple comedy marks, from solid liners to physical bumps. There are also some cool fighting sequences. The cast is awesome and makes everything work.
Now, it appears that the producers of Extreme Job CJ Entertainment and Universal Pictures have a deal in place to remake the film in the US. It also appears that Kevin Hart’s production company is involved with Hart possibly playing in the film. Tracy Oliver is apparently writing the screenplay.
I am giving Extreme Job a 3.75 out of 5 Hairpieces!
Cinephellas 