Great Film overall

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Someone Special is a South Korean romantic comedy film about a struggling baseball player and a fan with a long-time crush on him.It stars Lee Na-Young, Jeong Jae-Young and Jang Young-Nam.It was directed by Jang Jin.Dong Chiseong, a star baseball pitcher in high school and college, hurts his shoulder, and is replaced as an outfielder. What is worse, he experiences a constant nose-bleeding and hears from the doctor that he is only given three months to live due to a malignant tumor in his lung. Deeply depressed, he goes to a bar to drink away his sorrows until he falls asleep. A pretty bartender Han Iyeon, finds him passed out and picks him up and carries him in a box. One day, as Chiseong heads home, he hears a familiar story on a radio program about someone named the "Writing Princess" who described how she once carried a man in a box to a hotel room. It turns out that Iyeon's chance encounter with the struggling player at the bar was far from accidental. She apparently has lived close to Chiseong and monitored him closely over the past 10 years, suffering from an unrequited love.Someone Special has been highly anticipated for no other reason that it is director's long-awaited follow-up movie. And the first person he took in mind to realize this project was the inimitable actress and model Lee Na-young. The unique on screen situations that Jang Jin can create combined with Lee Na-young's unexpected and outlandish acting have made expectations for this film soar.Also, telling his down to earth romance with some good drops of humor to balance parts that at times are endangered to shift into sentimental over-drive, it offers the viewers a seldom seen cinematic surprise.

I started watching this with big expectations mainly because im in love with Korean Cinema which often (not so much recently) is so different from western productions. Once more I was not disappointed.The plot is not as simple as in most rom-coms but include fairly decent twist. Main character Dong Chi-seong is just a guy in constant pursuit for love which is field with failure and disappointment. He also has serious health problems. After meting his doctor Chi-seung is desperate so he turns towards alcohol and then he meets Han Yi-yeon. AS I noticed before and its the same with this film Korean directors are restrained in showing affection between characters (its often big advantage just like in this film). After they met Chi-seong isn't too friendly. Thats the plot in an nutshell.Camera work isn't perfect. I don't understand why scenes with lack of movement were taken by hand camera. I just don't get it. Soundtrack is typicall for the genre maybe creators wanted to throw off audience so the twist could have had better impact. Acting is good enough or the cuteness of Yi-yeon just blinded me. Performance of Na-yeong Lee is very balanced just not too needy nor too shy.Funny moments are very tasteful sometimes even disarmingly ridicules (I refer to certain box that just made me cry). Film can be even considered as an parody of the genre that it is representing by itself. Very clever script and amazing directing created unusual film for all those who are bored with stories that always unfold the same.

The movie that I'm glad that this film turned out not to be is the parody that exists within the movie. As that movie-within-a-movie goes on, the protagonist of this tale comments on how illogical and tedious it is, being a story of two lovers who are parted and somehow one can send his love to the other through a magical telephone pole as they both die. That movie-within-a-movie grabs all the trite clichés that infest Corean melodramas and brings them to their ridiculous conclusions.Someone Special or A Woman I Know (direct translation) is a romantic comedy, but it's build on a completely different foundation than the typical Corean melodrama. In fact, the closest analogue I can come up with to this film is Punch Drunk Love, which is also a completely different kind of romance. Unlike Punch Drunk Love, however, Someone Special is completely aware of all the genre rules and even follows them in parodic (but not spoofing) fashion, subverting clichés of terminal illness, tear-jerking moments, and remarkable connections between lovers. And even though it acts as a parody of the romantic comedy genre, it still retains the heart of a romantic comedy.The story, on the surface, is a little unremarkable. It's essentially about heartbroken baseball player and a young woman who has a one-sided crush on him. The comedy is derived partially from parody, flights of fantasy, erratic behavior and comedic situations, as well as some sharp awkward dialog. A few directorial touches that I love is the inversion of background and foreground and the overall approach to the look of the film.Another thing I love about the film is the acting. First of all, the male lead doesn't have model-like features--he's a rather average looking guy. And the female lead portrays her rather bizarre character with gusto and while she's costumed rather dumpy, she conveys a genuinely addictive naiveté. The rest of the film is peopled with rather amusing persons all played well by their supporting actors.I did have some issues with the editing, which I felt didn't do enough to cut down the running time as there were more than a couple moments where I felt like we could have more elliptical storytelling. Also, although I remain neutral to it, there are many setups where a hand-held camera is used and it can be distracting to those who expect a still camera when shooting a still scene. It's a little unorthodox and I can't find a compelling reason to shoot it the way it was shot, but at the same time, it's a rather memorable technique, even if excessive. Finally, sometimes the music was mixed too much up front and while I understand the use of pop songs in certain parts, as part of the genre critique, at other times, it was just a little overbearing and distracting.Despite that I felt like a few more things could've been done to improve the film, I still have to admit that I was really entertained by the film and loved its intelligent and yet still genuine take on the romantic comedy genre. With great characters, atypical amusing comedy and a really unique energy, Someone Special ended up being something special for me: a really enjoyable romantic comedy that considerably pushes the genre into a new place. 8/10.

Korean movies somehow manage, successfully, to skirt the line between drama and comedy all at the same time. There are times in this movie, you'd wonder if you're watching a comedy, or a drama? Somehow it goes from one to the other quite well, and the comedy is more circumstantial, then "i'm going to do something that will make you laugh".I really liked this movie, and just remember that whole 'romantic-comedy' idea came from Hollywood. Korea movies for one, have a different take on what it means to them, and for some reason, strikes home a bit better.