You know how I always bitch and moan about how there are no more good raunchy sex comedies? Well, I apparently missed one of the craziest entries in the genre. Moreover, this is an early 2000s raunchy sex comedy riding that sweet wave American Pie started. This first wave is the one I grew up on as Superbad and the rest of the crowd came several years later. But, you didn’t come here to listen to me rehash my early 20s, you came here for great movie recommendations. And, oh boy, do I have one for you or what? Sex Is Zero is an insanely hilarious South Korean version of the American raunchy college sex comedies.
It features great production values and the atmosphere is absolutely buzzing with energy because of lively direction and great camera work. So, don’t think that this is some cheap knock-off version of that nineties classic. Sex is Zero is about Eun-shik Jang, a young law student who falls in love with Eun-hyo, a beautiful girl who goes to the same Sunjung University. Just to be perfectly clear, Eun-shik and Eun-hyo are not related and I don’t know what’s up with the whole Eun thing. Not that it matters anyway. So, what follows is a relatively classic tale of Eun-shik’s unsuccessful and hilarious attempts to seduce Eun-hyo.
Add to this a couple of subplots and a big competition coming up for our merry band of students and you got yourself quite a nifty little movie. Eun-hyo and her girls are prepping for a big aerobics competition and you know what that means? A lot of revealing sexy outfits. Lots and lots of them… Sex is Zero is much more graphic, crude, and raunchy than its American counterparts. So, if you’re wondering if will there be nudity in this movie, yes, there will be lots of nudity. If you’re wondering if will there be toilet humor, edgy sex jokes and gross-out situations, yes, there will be plenty of those.
Who knew that this South Korean movie would turn out to be one of the most insane comedies of the early 2000s? And let me just tell you right now that they will take things to a whole ‘nother level. A level I didn’t even know existed. Hell, as a man who loves this sort of thing, a couple of scenes did actually gross me out. And trust me, that’s a hard thing to do. You should also know that Sex is Zero sometimes bends reality, like a cartoon, to fit its quirky narrative. This means people will be fine after falling from the top of the buildings and other stuff. Just be ready for that because it kind of took me by surprise.
Especially when you consider the fact that the rest of the movie tries to maintain a high level of reality. Even the finale is much more heartfelt and emotional than in the rest of the similar movies. We will also learn more about South Korean culture and how their college students party. I think that was the biggest surprise for me. You have these big dance clubs but also private party rooms in the back. What a great idea, I mean, I would love to have a club like that in my city. And don’t get me started on the whole karaoke thing. I will leave the rest of the stuff for you to discover. This is the thing I love the most about foreign movies, learning more about other cultures and people.
And ultimately seeing that we’re all the fucking same. Even if South Koreans smoke cigarettes like crazy and like to get blackout drunk. Our young cast was great, even if Lim Chang-jung, who plays Eun-shik Jang, looks ten years older than the rest of them. However, you should remember that South Korea has a mandatory 2-year military service. Ha Ji-Won, Yoo Chae-yeong, and the rest of the girls were stunningly beautiful and gracious. The most important thing is that the cast knew how to play these characters. They didn’t go over-the-top and they weren’t wooden but just right.
Thanks to them, the weak main story and messy storytelling didn’t impact the movie that much. I mean, I was struggling to figure out what was going on and why it was happening in the first place. Everything was sort of up in the air. This is why to some of you Sex is Zero might seem like a disjointed collection of funny sketches. I think this isn’t a big deal especially when you consider the fact that this is a raunchy college sex comedy. Only during the final third do things become clear and the story actually starts taking off. Once again we will see a funny, caring, and a bit clumsy outcast struggling to get the hot girl while the rich assholes are simply taking them.
It’s the way of the world I think. Or at least it used to be some twenty years ago. I wonder how are things now, in this fully digital and pretty weird world. Wow, I didn’t think I would be able to write so much stuff about Sex is Zero but I guess I was wrong. I’m also trying to bring attention to this relatively unknown South Korean movie because it deserves it. Make sure you watch the end credits featuring hilarious bloopers. You should also know that there’s a sequel, Sex is Zero 2 which isn’t great. I mean, it’s not bad either but I think that the spark that was present in the original is missing. What wasn’t missing was the cast as almost everybody, including our two leads, reprised their roles.
Director: JK Youn
Writers: JK Youn
Cast: Im Chang-jung, Ha Ji-won, Jung Min, Jin Jae-young, Choi Sung-kook, Yoo Chae-yeong, Shin Yi
Fun Facts: In the scene outside the nightclub where the girl starts vomiting, she’s really vomiting. Just a couple of minutes earlier she drank a lot of water and instant noodle soup.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0341555/
