Penguin Project: The Plan Man

Han Jung-seok (Jung Jae-young) is a librarian who has OCD, his whole life is planned out by him. He enters the same convenience store at the exact same time every day. Even if he is early, he will wait until his alarm rings from his watch. He considers his life as a good one, but that's until he meets Yoo So-jung (Han Ji-min). A woman who is unpredictable and she becomes a devil in Han Jung-seok's life. The two grow to become friends and maybe even more.

Han Jung-seok (Jung Jae-young) is a very complicated man with a very structured life. He has no friends besides maybe the man who owns the laundry store he also goes to. Han will freak out whenever his clothes get dirty or touch something he believes is dirty like a cat. It is later revealed that is he a very talented pianist. He has a crush on a woman who works at the grocery store his goes to and one day decides to confess when he is right about to he realizes that she has called in sick. Instead, a new disorganized woman by the name of Yoo So-jung is working instead. This is the start of their conflicting but interesting friendship. Which works in favor of Yoo So-jung as she wants to enter into a music competition as a duo. This scares the hell out of Jung-seok but eventually he decides to do the competition for his new friend. Eventually, we figure out why he is a complicated man and why he has so much pain inside. As well as why he doesn't like any media attention.

Yoo So-jung (Han Ji-min) works part time at a convenience store but at night she sings at a bar. Her songs are very unique but kind of strange at the same time. They work because the crowd loves her and she believes in herself. She is very messy, which scares her new friend Han Jung-seok to death. At the same time, she tries to pressure him to change, to become the kind of man that his crush wants. In that turn, she has been in a few bad relationships and wants to get revenge on her latest lover who turned out to be married. That man turns out to be a judge on a music competition show and that's why she wants to audition for the show. Over time, she grows very fond of Han Jung-seok eventually falling in love with him. She finds him quite cute and weird. So-jung becomes a little less messy after she meets him. Will the two have a happy ever after?

I love this kind of movie, I am actually a fan of both of the leads. It was nice to see them together in the film. Han Ji-min is a very talented actress and beautiful as well. She has a good acting range which makes her a delightful actress to watch. Her smile is also infectious especially in this film. Her overall aura is cute and you can definitely tell that in this movie.

Jung Jae-young is also talented, with a broad acting range and film credits to prove it. It was nice to see that they could put a good actor in a romantic comedy. As in most movies they usually put in a man who has a really nice face but can't really act. It is always a treat to see Jung Jae-young perform as he was in one of the first Korean movies I saw.

The direction of the film was good but could have been better at some spots. The storyline at times was a little under-performing. When I watched this film I find myself comparing it to Stranger Than Fiction the films seem to be quite similar. This is the first movie the two did together but would later star in The Fatal Encounter. The chemistry is there and I hope you are able to watch this film someday.

3/5

Cast

Jung Jae-young