Mr. Wacky (2006)

This is a movie very much of its time. The camera work, the editing, the type of storyline, the type of humor, they are all hallmarks of the period this movie comes from. It's filmed in a slice-of-life way (despite not being a slice-of-life story) with what another MyDramaList reviewer referred to as a series of vignettes that all connect together. I think that's an accurate summation and a good thing to know going in. There is an over-arching storyline with a beginning, middle, and end, but it doesn't feel quite the same as most mainstream movies today. This style of filmmaking isn't something that was done in all Korean movies made at the time, of course, but it was a somewhat common form of storytelling from what I can tell. Initially, I found it a bit confusing, but I got the hang of it about halfway through, and now that I've finished the movie, I think I like the directing/editing decision.

The one thing that really hampers this movie is some of the humor. The male lead is a rich, sexist, jerk in the beginning. This isn't a new trope, and it's not one that bothers me if the male lead grows as a person and sees the error of his previous behavior. But the way the filmmakers chose to portray him in the first half of the drama involved a number of inappropriate jokes/scenes that I found tasteless and unnecessary. For example, the male lead arrives for his new job and immediately a fantasy plays in his head of a bunch of teen girls (although the actresses look like they might be in their early 20's) coming out of classrooms and running past him in skimpy gym uniforms, all the while laughing and giggling with their long hair flowing behind them. I was not amused.

If you take out the crude jokes though, this movie does work surprisingly well. Like I said, it's filmed in a sort-of vignette sort of way that I came to enjoy, and the male lead actually becomes quite likable by the second half of the story. The catalyst for his character growth happens about halfway through. Something terrible happens to one of his students, and he really pulls through for her in a way you don't expect. From there, he continues to improve, and by the end, he's become a decent guy. The crude humor also goes away in the second half, for which I was very grateful.

I don't know that I will ever watch this movie again because of aforementioned crude humor, but it was funny when it wasn't crude.

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Wasted Superb Cast On A Movie That Could have Been Better!

I have to admit my first viewing of this movie was not good; it had English subtitles superimposed over three or four Asian translations as well...not good!

I finally found a clean copy which led to a better experience.

Our story starts out with Woo Ju Ho (Park Gun Hyung) living it up around the night circuit of his city; later we find out that it is his grandfather's wealth that he is blowing!

His grandfather, played by Jung Wook, has a serious medical problem (I will let you find out what it is when you watch the movie), and he is adamant to give his wealth to charity; unless or course, Ju Jo reluctantly mends his ways and teaches school for two years to earn his inheritance!

Being a former top administration, (I guess) grandfather pulls a few strings and gets Ju Ho into a high school teaching sophomore math. I wondered if you need a special "teacher's certification" or not in South Korea, or did "grandpa" pull some strings and get this waived somehow; it never tells you what degree if any Woo Ju Ho possessed.

Anyway, without even registering with the school, Woo Ju Ho shows up for the first day of class as any other playboy would: arrogant, self-assured, and completely without a clue about the educational system.

Even though he is 'teaching' he is still playing the night life; he gets into trouble several times; due to his 'social ineptness' Teacher Yun So Joo (Kim Hyo Jin) decides to teach him the social skills necessary to navigate the social climate of a high school...little did she know what she was getting into!

The first half of this movie basically follows the above outline; however, even though this is not a 'bad' movie, it is not a great movie!

I saw Park Gun Hyung in the movie Innocent Steps (2005) with the great Korean actress Moon Geun Young (I haven't had time to review it yet!). Park Gun Hyung seemed like he was not really interested in acting in this movie, or the director isn't
giving him what he needs.

He was so much better in Innocent Steps!

It is as if someone is telling him to "suppose" something is supposed to happen without a script, then after filming that scene, him being told to "suppose" something else, but different, is going to take place.

The scenes don't seem to have go together; there is comedy and some innuendo, but it doesn't seem to all work together like a movie should.

If you want some laughs go ahead and watch this movie, but it doesn't seem to "fit together" well.

The second half is better, with Woo Ju Ho actually beginning to 'act' like a teacher and gives some good advice to the students coming to him for help.

In this segment, student Choi Jin Ju (the lovely Song Eun Chae) who plays a young girl who experiences an 'incident' which causes her to want to drop out of school, or at least 'that' school, and Woo Ju Ho attempts to help her with this problem: he also chooses (again kind of "out of the blue" to attempt to woo teacher Yun So Joo after she has been helping him: there was really little inference as her being interested in him, but again, the story seems to change all the way through with little hints or setup for changes.

I liked the scene where Yun So Joo sings for her ex-boyfriend and best girlfriend: one of the best scenes!

The music wasn't bad and the cinematography also is really good. The main cast keep the story going, except for the fact that the connections aren't there always; and the support cast is also good at aiding the two main stars in the movie.

Two kudos for support staff: 'Grandpa' (Jung Wook) and the side story with Ju Ho; and Song Eun Chae, whose side story basically saves the second half!

The other problem with my enjoying this movie is the fighting between the male students; I guess if I understood Korean culture better I would understand why the last fight occurred.

It ended different that I expected, but it still was good: not great, but good!

One final note: the support cast actor Moon Ji-yoon passed away from blood poisoning on the 18th of March 2022, about the time I watched this last.

Condolences to his family, friends, acting connections and others.

RE-WATCH VALUE: Only occasionally.

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