When I stumbled upon the 2013 South Korean romantic comedy "Kaechimi" (aka "Steal My Heart") here in 2024, I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it. Sure, I had never heard about the movie, but I've watched enough South Korean movies to know that chances are that I might be in for something enjoyable here.
And thus, I sat down to watch director Hyun-Jong Lee's movie without knowing what exactly I was in for.
However, I have to say that writers Hyun-Jong Lee and Yoo Yeong-Ah put together a script that proved rather bland and generic. The movie was watchable, for sure, but it just was lacking forward drive. And running at 115 minutes, then the narrative just didn't have enough drive or punch to keep it being entertaining or interesting all the way through. It took director Hyun-Jong Lee forever to literally go nowhere in this narrative. And it was a long movie to sit through, so very, very long, given the slow paced narrative that was devoid of excitement, fun and thrills.
The character gallery in the movie was a bit one-dimensional. There wasn't really much of any chemistry between leading actress Kim Ah-Jung (playing Yoon Jin-Sook) and leading actor Joo Won (playing Lee Ho-Tae). Sure, they performed well enough in the movie, but there just wasn't a spark between the two, and that made it a somewhat disinteresting love romance to sit through.
It should be noted that the acting performances in the movie were good, and they definitely had a good cast ensemble put together.
There are far better romantic comedies of this type on the South Korean market. And "Kaechimi" came and went without leaving much of a lasting impression. And it definitely isn't a movie that I will spend another 115 minutes on watching. This was, for a lack of better words, a disappointing viewing experience.
My rating of "Kaechimi" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars.
