My Tutor Friend (2003) User Reviews

Sweet Korean comedy

[Pedro-37 · 7/10 · 2 June 2003]

A really sweet movie that has some similarities to the 2001-hit "My Sassy Girl" but is able to enchant most of the time. The biggest applause should go to the two leads. Ha-Neul Kim is both sweet and quirky, Sang-woo Kwon is both attractive and rebellious. The chemistry between the two is very good.

Director Kyeong-hyeong Kim uses some CG-inserts to pepper up the visuals and also offers impressive fight scenes in which Sang-woo Kwon can shine. I liked him a lot better here than in the highly overrated "Volcano High". And that boy has a future - those looks, those fight techniques, and a romantic lead. Not bad.

Well, I can make it short: Nice film. My rating: 7/10

Lovely Romantic comedy !

[Snapesnape · 8/10 · 29 March 2003]

After having seen "Marrying Mafia", I'd nearly lost my faith in Korean movie business. But this one brought my faith back.

Leading female character who is university student forced to teach the spoiled, rich but charistmatic high school student guy. He is actually female character's age. Through some hilarious quarrells, these two end up being great friends.

I was pleasantly surprised that newcomer kwan sang woo did his job with excellency. He was such a revelation!! Actress Kim ha nul was also charming as usual.

This movie tried hard to avoid any cliches that can be seen in typical romantic comedies. And it didn't show us any unnecessary nude, sex scenes. It was brilliant, lovely , fresh, made me want to see it again.

Enjoyable ride for the most part

[d_art · 8/10 · 29 January 2005]

Like "My Sassy Girl", this movie is based on a true story posted from the internet, but that's where the similarities end. The story is generally about this rebellious guy named Ji-Hoon (Kwon Sang Woo) who is still trying to finish high school, whose parents hire a tutor named Su-Wan (Kim Ha Neul), a woman who comes from a poor background, but happens to be the same age as him. Add to that some obstacles, martial arts (thugs are always after Ji-Hoon for revenge), a scorned, thuggish love-sick girl who is after him, his proclivity for ditching the lessons, and you generally can guess the whole story. Did I mention it's a romantic comedy? This movie has some good fight scenes, great visual humor and a lot of spunk, thanks to the good chemistry between Kim Ha Nuel and Kwon Sang Woo, that bring a lot of energy to the story. The romantic elements also work because of that reason. And, I must say, I'd want a girlfriend more like Kim Ha Nuel than that girl from "My Sassy Girl" (personality-wise, at least). She has some spunk, but it's more on the cute, sweet, good-hearted way. Characters are already mostly likable (so one might say it had less of a hill to climb than "My Sassy Girl"--an obstacle that worked for that movie to its credit), and the movie is quite clever and interesting most of the way. The story kind of sags, though, about 2/3 of the way (where it sort of treads on familiar, standard fare, where nothing really interesting happens), but near the end, it picks up a bit again. Overall, a fun, cute movie. 8/10

What has chicken got to do with it?

[harry_tk_yung · 2 September 2003]

Well, the movie started with extremely violent graphic shots of the girl¡¦s mother chopping up chickens for her fry chicken take-out business, which is the main source of income for the family as the father is unemployed. Later, while tutoring (the girl's way of contributing to the family income) she said something embarrassing, and a parade of animated chickens marched above her head, each laying an egg. I guess you got the hang of it.

There are a few things that go against this movie. First, there is little plot and no story. Not that anything elaborated is needed for this genre, but MTF is more like a series of disjointed sketches. Second, the character of the male lead is unattractive. Kwon Sang-woo, who had made an impression in Volcano High, suffers here because of the lame script. Yes, he is cool in both. In Volcano High, the image worked well because his role was one-dimensional: an ambitious, ruthless contender who wanted to be at the top. In MTF, however, in the role of a super-rich, over-aged delinquent high school student who sometime seems to find a heart, this coolness is embarrassingly misplaced. Finally, I think a lot must have been lost in the translation, literally speaking. I suspect there¡¦s probably plenty of Korean colloquial and pun that are simply lost. In general, the Chinese sub-titles look like something fished right out of a garbage dump. The English subtitles make much more sense, but didn't tickle any funny bones.

On the other side of the balance sheet, there are good things about this movie. Kim Ha-Neul is one. I understand that this actress has so far been nothing but sweet and demure in Korean movies and TV series. In MTF, just the extent she would go to make herself funny deserves applause. And it wasn't such a bad job either. While Kwon Sang-woo does not make much of an impression in his delivery of drama, he certainly exceeds passing grade as a fighting star. Compared to Volcano High, which offers choreographed fighting, MTF has more solid fighting scenes, and there are quite a few of those. Finally, the cutest star in the movie, in my view, is the guy playing Kwon Sang-woo¡¦s father. I am not being sarcastic. He is really a joy to watch.

Ordinary, Action/Comedy flick

[porsche98892000 · 7/10 · 17 November 2003]

After, I watched the films... I thought, "Why the heck was this film such a high success in the Korean Box Office?" Even thought the movie had a clever/unusal scenario, the acting wasn't that good and the characters weren't very interesting. For a Korean movie... I liked the fighting scenes. If you want to watch a film without thinking, this is the film for you. But I got to admit... the film was kind of childish... 6/10

Decent Chick flick

[henry325 · 7/10 · 23 December 2006]

It is first and foremost a chick flick, it is a romantic comedy. There is a fair balance between the two. This particular movie has the addition of some pretty sweet fight scenes, I don't think any wires were used or if they were they weren't flat out blatant. It isn't a terribly complicated movie so it easy on the brain, no need to analyze anything to get the deeper meaning, pretty simple, good chemistry between the leads, and a fun watch. I'd like it if they made brought out the full potential of the girls looks just once cause she can be amazingly cute, but throughout the movie they keep it low key kind of pretty. I'd watch it again...with a girl.

Funniest Korean Movie Lately

[kleaner · 8/10 · 16 March 2003]

I enjoyed this film very much. Many Korean people will feel familiar with this film because many of them have tutors when they go to school. Cinematography was average. The movie would have been better if the angel or the movement of the camera was more irregular. Editing, however, was very neat and unusual.

The acting was also very good. Kim Ha Neul usually played an innocent, weak girl in the Korean soap-opaeras. But this time, she plays a cute tomboy very well. Kwon Sang Woo also plays his role very believable.

What I like the most about this film is, the emotion of the characters are not too exaggerated. There are many Korean romance films that the characters cry river before the audience and I always thought it was very stale. There was no such crap in this movie.

Very funny and well-done.

Bad romance!

[fluffset · 5/10 · 14 October 2012]

I've watched Too Beautiful To Lie, My Girlfriend Is An Agent and Almost Love. I thought this movie was good but unfortunately, its too fake! I cannot force myself to watch it till end because for me its too boring, too slow,cliché and fake-looking. Its too predictable and I become a shaman because all my predictions were right! The story is easy, about a rich boy who got a tutor to teach him because he is still in high school even he is 21 years old. Then, you will know whats next.

Just one thing impressed me, its ending. How come a love movie got an action ending, good alternate ending for typical romantic movie though. If you have watch a lot of korean stuff, I'm sure you will not love this stuff. If not, enjoy your experience!

A nice film

[goblate_fire · 9/10 · 2 November 2013]

A very good movie with sweet story line. Not a tough understanding story movie but give you much pleasure. Some of actor-actress was doing over acting but it can be ignored. Hero and heroine did their job quite better. I recommended everybody who wants to see a movie with some comedy & love. The way of story goes , it is quite fun. A very simple story but very much good at its content. I think it is much better romantic movie then Indian romantic movie. The direction of this movie is OK but it could be better. Some scenes showed few over acting for example the last few scene. But overall the movie will not make you dissatisfied. So I think you have to sit now and watch this movie with out any confusions.

A jerk falls in love

[lmerana · 1/10 · 13 April 2018]

Typical story about a jerk falling in love. The title of the movie says it all. No chemistry between lead stars. Not a good movie to watch if you are only starting to watch korean movies.

Another good title for your DVD collections

[zhixiong · 8/10 · 23 January 2005]

My Tutor Friend is a well scripted romance comedy movie that has something similar to My Sassy Girl.. there's no kissing/sex scenes. Hollywood should learn more from Korean productions. Sex is not always required in a good romantic movie.

The movie is of light hearted tone with occasional cartoon CG scenes blended into the movie. I like the part when Ji-Hoon almost kissed Su-Wan. The funniest moment is when Ji-Hoon punched Su-Wan's first love because he dumped Su-Wan for another girl and he is going to be a father soon. How he became a father was revealed in the next scene, which brings smiles to the audience.

Mao points: 8/10

Real action-romance-comedy: Feel young again!

[Stacey_Ng · 10/10 · 7 November 2006]

I first came across 'My Tutor Friend' accidentally one or two years ago while TV surfing. Prior to that, I'd never watched any Korean films before in my whole life, so MTF was really the first Korean film I've ever watched. And- what a delightful surprise! I was thoroughly amused from the beginning to end, and had a great time laughing. Its comic style is quite different from those of the Hong Kong comic films (which I've been to used to all my life and hence tired of as well), breathing fresh air into my humdrum film viewing experience. I thought there're quite a few scenes and tricks in MTF that are pretty hilarious, witty, and original too.

I watched MTF the second time a few days ago, and having watched it once already, the surprise/comic effect on me kind of mitigated. That has, however, by no means affected negatively my opinion of the film. Instead, something else came through this time- it moved me- the story about how two young, seemingly 'enemies' who're utterly incompatible get thrown together, and how they gradually resolve their differences and start caring for each other without realizing the feelings themselves, reminds me of the long gone high school days. To me, Su Wan and Ji Hoon ARE actually compatible as they both have something that is pure and genuine inside them, a quality that separates them from people like say, Ji Hoon's sassy girlfriend.

The film is divided into two distinct parts- the 1st part deals with the 'fight' between Su Wan and Ji Hoon, and is more violent and faster in pace. After Ji Hoon gets a pass in his final examination and Su Wan dances the (in Ji Hoon's opinion) provocative dance, things start to change. The pace slows down and... Ji Hoon suddenly realizes he cares for Su Wan more than he could ever imagine. So the 2nd part deals with the development of their mutual feelings, leading of course to a happy ending accompanied by a final showdown with the gang boss.

Just one last comment. I find this to be a bit unbelievable- the fact that a 21-year-old self-proclaimed 'bad boy' would feel embarrassed being almost naked in front of the girl he bullies and loses his 'cool' is just a little... odd. I guess that shows that Ji Hoon is just a boy pure at heart and isn't really what his appearance seems. Btw, Kwong San Woo (Ji Hoon) DOES have a sexy body and perfect figure! ;-)

MTF is definitely on my list of top 10 favorite films of all time.