Release Date:Rating:
January 1st, 2002
NA
Genres:
Comedy
Subgenres:
College, Coming of Age, Crude Humor
Plot Synopsis:
Eun Sik is 28 years old and has recently started school at the university. He is a member of the Cha Ryu group and practices with them daily, through painful endurance training. He meets the much...
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Eun Sik is 28 years old and has recently started school at the university. He is a member of the Cha Ryu group and practices with them daily, through painful endurance training. He meets the much younger and gorgeous Eun Hyo, for whom he holds a completely one-sided attraction. Eun Sik's amazingly unlucky, and a host of embarrassing situations happen to him. Through all of this, him and his insanely horny group of friends help make one of the most memorable sex comedies, complete with both hilarious and somewhat dramatic moments.
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Credits:
Directed: Je-gyun Yun Written: NA
Starring: Ji-won Ha, Chang Jung Lim, Jae-yeong Jin, Seong-guk Choi, Chae-yeong Yu

THE FILM

If you don’t think it’s funny when somebody accidentally eats a sperm-sandwich, or if you dislike gratuitous shots of semi-nude wet girls with bouncing breasts, stop right here. Then this film is not for you.

Gross-out comedies like this are usually a mixed bag. They can go either way. Personal tastes, the appeal of the actors, and even what company you see it in, will influence whether you like this film or not.

From what I’m told, “American Pie” didn’t fare too well in Korea, but apparently they lapped this one up in no time. As for myself, I didn’t care for “American Pie”, but I did enjoy “Road Trip” and recently “Eurotrip”. Go figure.

If gross-out comedy is your thing, don’t be put of by the fact that this one isn’t American. Because even though “Sex is Zero” is distinctly Korean, the humor is universal. After all, there’s no language barrier in sperm eating jokes.

The film opens as an ensemble piece, and cleverly introduces all major characters in one single shot in the beginning. Presented with 10+ lead characters all virtually the same age, I found myself getting quite confused to begin with. But eventually the film zeroes in on the relationship between Eun-hyo and Eun-sik.

I wish the film had been a little more clear in its set-up. It takes quite some time for before it indicates that the guy, who at first appears simply to be the class clown, is in fact the “hero”. This is partly due to the film’s lack of focus. It fumbles around from one character to the next in an uneven episodic way.

However, when the Eun-hyo and Eun-sik relationship becomes the main focus, it provides the film with a solid core, and then everything falls into place.

Their relationship really is the perfect core for this kind of story, and while the film never misses an opportunity to kick Eun-sik in the nuts (literally) for a cheap laugh, he still emerges as a real character. His infatuation with Eun-hyo is believable and sweet, and reveals the film’s inherently good nature