Extreme Job (2019)

Making good chicken is not an expressionless pursuit of frozen poultry, cellophane wrap and robotic assembly. A true cook understands that preparing a dish is a sacred art, honorific in the exchange of life.

Excellent preparation and strategically calculated ingredients make for a perfectly balanced marinate sauce over succulent (yet crispy) chicken. This chicken is neither over or under fried, the sauce isn't too sweet, spicy, thick or too complex. Although the sauce has an unusual character, little effort is made to create something completely unique, instead; exploits the forgotten fundamentals of what makes real sticky chicken, thus landing in a purgatorious state to be judged for both its good, and sinful deeds. This is chicken exposed and uncensored, the aroma is a tease leading to what becomes a deliciously erotic bliss. I am forced to wonder, is it really even chicken?

2019 is off to a splendid start. There comes a film maybe once every 5 years that can make up for every bad film in the last 5 years. For comedy, this is one of them.

You do not have to be fond of Korean or east asian cinema to enjoy this, and I personally did not expect it to be as great as it was. Who could've known? Its been a very long time since I've seen a comedy fit so many elements of a great story into 2 hours. It wasn't just "ha ha" funny, it was hilarious and impartial to any type, age or people, a true comedy to the core.

It's a clean execution through and through. The characters are well developed and defined. The script's timing is punctual. Nothing spoken or seen is randomly injected or ejected; so as to either look or sound out of place and disconnect the story line. There's a strong consistency that leaves nothing unknown for too long, no deep lulls or delayed sense of wonder. Towards the middle and end, there's no sharp left turns completely void of audience validation. The music selection is melodic and well timed, complimenting their scenes. With all of this including the obvious fiction, it maintains a true to life feel, and resonates as a very human story.

The film accomplishes its mission as a comedy and more. It's a pleasantly refreshing supply of laughter that can only come from great casting, a solid team and hard work, I thank the cast for this gift. It's hard to step away from this film in search of something more, similar or greater. I look forward to everything Bae Se-Young (Bae Se-yeong ), Lee Byeong-heon, Noh Seungbo and Bang Ok Kyung have to offer in the future. The bar has been lifted, I have a strong "trailblazer" feeling about this film.

9/10 One star has not been earned for the following reasons

1. The boat scene was 2-3 minutes too long.

2. Some more explanation between the TV director and the success of the restaurant would've been helpful.

Living in North America, the film was free of any hype, so their was no expectation to lead to any amount of disappointment (Its harder to laugh when you're expecting to). Had hype been a factor, I doubt my review would be any different. I now see this wasn't the case in Korea, but East Asia does have a way of sensationalizing great films to "excessively" high points, which will eventually lead to negative reviews, many of which have found their way to IMDB.