One of the more enjoyable and creative romantic comedies I’ve seen in a while is Jeong Yong-Ki’s Couples, a fun South Korean flick that also happens to be a remake of Kenji Uchida’s 2005 popular Japanese film A Stranger of Mine (which I haven’t seen).
Couples opens up with a man named Yoo-Suk (Kim Joo-Hyuk), a man on the hunt for his missing girlfriend, Na-Ri (Lee Si-Young), who pulled an Irish exit on him two months ago and sent him one text message saying she’d send someone for her stuff. Keep in mind this is all in the wake of him pouring all of his money into buying a new house for her. During this one particular day while wrapping up a phone conversation with Bok-Nam, his private investigator, everything bad that could possibly happen to him does but it eventually leads him to meeting a cute woman named Ae-Yeon (Lee Yoon-Ji). Just as Yoo-Suk starts to get over Na-Ri, she returns out of nowhere while on the run from Byung-Chan (Gong Hyung-Jin), a gangster trying to get out of the thug life. Couples ends up being a wild tale and a much more interesting one then you’d ever expect a seemingly simple romantic comedy would be.
First off, there is a lot going on in this film. The movie has the structure of a thriller like Vantage Point since it chronicles the entire day from the perspective of all five major characters. Many of these multi-perspective oriented films don’t usually come together well but this one does a pretty good job. Not only does every character get to be in the spotlight, we get their full back story and how they relate to everyone else in the film because, as expected, everyone is connected in some way shape or form. As a result of everyone getting their fair share of screen time, Jeong Yong-Ki is able to avoid the typical plot-hole pitfalls of these rom-coms and ends up leaving no stone unturned, which is such a nice feeling as an audience member.
Even though the entire movie isn’t funny, it is fun and I never felt like there was a dull moment which was a personally shocking realization for me. This is because every character was truly interesting and had some wild story to tell that you never would have expected when meeting them for the first time. The film throws so many curveballs that you’re constantly swaying on your toes, not knowing which way the film is going to fall. 
Just making it through the first 10 minutes with Yoo-Suk trying to survive the worst day of his life was a surprisingly entertaining opening. It included him potentially being arrested for sexually harassing a lady, getting scammed by a taxi driver and being caught up in a bank robbery all while trying to hunt down the gold digging heartbreaker, Na-Ri. Random, right?
So the question is should you see Couples? Definitely! It’s a refreshing rom-com that even in its sappiest moments still manages to be joyful. Though there is a large amount of deception and trickery, it’s a lighthearted and honest story that’s pretty well cut and has an ending that’s nicely ties everything up in both a cheesy and comical way. Not only that, Couples is easily a film that’s ripe for an English language remake. Hell, it can work in any language and that’s what makes it so easy to watch.
Rating: Even with all the heartbreaks, it’s a happy go-lucky time full of wildly amusing twists (6.5/10)
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