200 Pounds Beauty

"200 Pounds Beauty" (aka "Minyeo-neun goerowo") sort of is a modern day Cinderella story, although with a twist. And it does differentiate itself from the numerous South Korean romantic comedy movies, which in itself in an impressive feat.

Director Yong-Hwa Kim has managed to put together a great romantic comedy that didn't follow the standard recipe of how to make a successful rom-com. As such, "200 Pounds Beauty" was a nice breath of fresh air to the genre.

Think Cinderella and you have the core essence of the movie. Han-na (played by Ah-Jung Kim) is a large singer who is doing the singing for a lip syncing popstar, hidden away because of her size and appearance. Undergoing full cosmetic surgery Han-na becomes everything she dreamed of, but she loses herself along the way and turns into what she always hated.

This comedy is not the kind that will leave you flat out laughing, but instead it is a good story with subtle comedy that will make you feel good. The nice storyline is accompanied by equally nice acting performances.

A big thumbs up to Ah-Jung Kim for her performance in this movie. She really did carry the movie quite nicely.

"200 Pounds Beauty" is a benchmark in the South Korean romantic comedy genre, and it is a must watch if you enjoy this particular genre. It is a beautiful movie that will leave a lasting impression. Highly recommended that you sit down to watch this movie.

This movie is alright but could have been funnier and more meaningful. Although she owned up to having plastic surgery the message is still that she found love and success because of her weight loss. Maybe its just realistic and not preachy. Shallow Hal is a better movie. The actress is a real singer and that shows. The lead actor and actress have chemistry.

This is a movie that follows a typical happy romantic comedy.. starts off happy, goes down.. back up.. and it hits the top and stays there. But then again, 200 pounds beauty is SO much more! On the surface it is already a great movie. The fat girl protagonist Hanna is very cute and kind, later she turns into beautiful and thin but still kind and innocent Jenny. So there's a bit of eyecandy, both cute and sexy throughout the whole movie. But then there's the funny bits, the movie has hilarious little kicks throughout the whole movie, making you laugh at all the right movies.

But then there's a deeper side. This movie talks about themes such as the superficial view of the world, how beauty becomes an obsession, how the most beautiful heart can hide inside a bigger girl, how people will give everything to a girl with beautiful face-- superficiality yet again.

The sad parts that touched deep to the heart of the film are very well scripted and acted.. I cried so many times watching it to see an 'ugly' girl turned beautiful, but having to give so much up and yet not quite happy with the shallow joys that this new body and face have given her.

A small disappointment however was that the story's villain did not do much and disappeared for the majority of the movie and out of the viewer's mind, rendering the character pretty useless and taking away a little something more the movie could have had.

Overall, a feel-good movie that is a definite must watch! It goes above all my initial expectations and is guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, love and think!

There's a reason this movie dominated the Korean box office over the holiday season. It was more popular than Night at the Museum and many other American films. It accomplishes many things that recent Korean romantic comedies have failed at. Basically, this movie is the star vehicle for new actress Kim Ah-Jung. She gives a great performance and fits the role perfectly. Even though the plot is simplistic, it is very witty and provides consistent comedy. The movie does not take itself too seriously like a lot of Korean movies that are all like "OMG LET'S BE FUNNY FOR THE FIRST HALF AND MAKE IT ALL DEPRESSING IN THE SECOND HALF!" While it provides many laughs, the story is still touching and meaningful. And what's amazing is that Kim Ah-Jung did all of her own singing, despite never having sung in a movie before nor being a singer. The soundtrack for 200 Pounds Beauty has topped the charts in Korea and "Maria" is one of the most popular songs in Korea right now.

Since this is basically my first review, I want to emphasize that I wanted to write it because no Korean movie has touched me this strongly since I saw My Sassy Girl.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a satisfying romantic comedy. 10/10

200 pounds? That's a lot! The movie is very good, but not as good as some other Korean movies such as The Classic and Sassy Girl.

The movie is very enjoyable, very funny from the very first scene, and very heartbreaking near the end.

Well, the story is simple, a fat girl with a good voice is a ghost singer for a famous pop star, the pop star makes fun of her in front of the man she loves. She leaves for god knows how long, beautiful and thin.

You have to love Kim Aj-jung and Jo Jin-mo. Over all, I recommend the film. It's very enjoyable to watch all over again.

8/10