Review: Fans of Korean comedies are simply at a lost at the moment, with so many romantic comedies coming out recently; it is juts too hard to keep the pace with the many releases each month. The quality has suffered too as film scripts seem more like rushed jobs, intertwining cute stories with recycled themes (which most of the time came from some famous Korean internet story). Fortunately, most of the new South-Korean comedies are not too bad actually. However, it has been a while since a great one came out.

TOO BEAUTIFUL TO LIE is indeed an excellent comedy with a perfect balance between comedy, romance and drama. The story very entertaining all the way through and really becomes more and more interesting as it progresses. The many lies of the main character turns the people’s lives upside down and you are really wondering how things will finally get solved. Of course, the outcomes of these types of films are usually easily predicted, like the situation that both main characters hate each other at the beginning, but will fall in love before the end. We saw this countless times before, but fortunately it is easily forgettable with the quality of the story. Again, have in mind that this is a romantic comedy and not the latest thriller inspired by a best selling book, so don’t expect an incredible storyline. However, for a comedy, it holds its ground very well and I’m still surprised that no American company has bought the rights to remake this one yet, as the story is very universal.

Kim Ha-neul, who you might have had the chance to catch in MY TUTOR FRIEND, is back but this time in a more mature role. With her character of Ju Young-ju, she can show more of her serious acting ability and thankfully without loosing her innocent and charming glance. Her character is also the most emotional character as she is first perceived as a selfish person, but the more we learn about her the more we start to understand her change of emotions, especially towards Choi Hee-chul’s family members. As for her partner, Choi Hee-chul, played by Kang Dong-won, he was really a great surprise. His good acting ability with an average guy look and shy manners fit the character perfectly.

If you are familiar with romantic comedies, you probably know what to expect from the humour. It is not a comedy filled with gags from start to finish, but the jokes have been carefully spread through the whole movie so the viewers never feel overwhelmed by too many gags or too many dramatic elements. The most interesting part is no doubt the consequences that lie for Young-ju and this is where you really wonder how things will finally settle down as the trouble she causes around her never seem to stop. Another interesting aspect is that the drama elements surprisingly work very well and it never becomes too cheesy or over acted.