Korea's answer to American Pie and the like sees clutzy university freshman Eun-shik falling for dream girl Eun-hyo (Ji-won Ha of Phone and Nightmare fame). But while his rather pathetic attempts to woo her fail to register, Eun-hyo is swept off her feet by dashing - and frivolous - playboy Sangik. With Eunhyo unable to see past her new lover's infidelite ways, Eun-shik must try to mature his image to save his dream girl from making a terrible choice.
"Sex Is Zero" starts off in hilarious fashion, with Eun-shik and his similarly sex-obsessed friends trying to score with as many college girls as is humanly possible. Throw in a couple of jokes about manhoods and cosmetic implants and we're talking comedy heaven. Unfortunately, as I've noticed with a few Korean films of late, the director chooses to veer off into other, more serious, genres in the final reel and this really puts the dampeners on the humour. There's one particularly shocking revelation around the hour mark which is so serious for a comedy that the film barely recovers - but of course I won't spoil it here. Put it this way, you know in a Hollywood production of this ilke that the good natured guy is always going to get his girl at the end... Korean productions are far more unpredictable!
Acting is excellent from all the main cast and the director brings a funky, lively and very energetic approach to his duties resulting in a highly entertaining mix of comedy, drama and weepie rolled into one. Comedy fans should be satisfied with the opening hour - people looking for a little more substance will lap up the finale. All in all, a recommended movie - ***.5 / *****
