The high skies have often been a setting for cinematic stories, playing with the high altitude setting for laughs, thrills and even action. For his latest film “OK! Madam”, director Lee Cheol-ha uses the same setting for a mix of all three, in a final product that doesn't quite manage to succeed at either successfully.
“OK! Madam” is available from Echelon Studios
Married couple Mi-yeong, a local market baker, and Seok-hwan, a computer repair expert, both slog out day in, day out to make just enough of a living to get by with their daughter Na-ri. Their dream is to go on a vacation for the first time since their wedding. So when Mi-yeong wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii, the happy family gladly boards the flight to take them to their dream holiday. However, it is on the same flight that a purported North Korean defector is supposed to be flying, a defector that a team of North Korean spies have also boarded the flight to catch. But the spies are about to find out that the defector is not the only person on board that they should be wary of, because this ajhumma Mi-yeong is much more trouble than they signed up for.
“OK! Madam” has a few things going for it, but a strong script is not one of those. Shin Hyun-sung's script, which might as well have been written on a paper napkin, is utterly predictable and crams itself with too many characters that are set up for gags that never seem to materialise. The congressman, for example, is one such character that fails to achieve any significant importance, even if some, like the actress, are worthy additions and get their due diligence. Even the whole point behind the hijacking of the plane seems dubious at best. However, despite the humour being often hit-and-miss, there's just about enough gags that take on the responsibility of eliciting a chuckle to keep things from getting completely boring. Ultimately, the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously works in its favour and nearly allows forgiving of its glaring shortcomings.
Equally important to the overall enjoyment of the feature are the performances by its two lead actors. The narrative rests almost completely on Uhm Jung-hwa's charm and likability and Uhm is more than capable of carrying it on her shoulders. Park Sung-woong, who proved his comedic mettle in “The Dude in Me”, also looks like he's having fun as Seok-hwan, the doting but seemingly simple husband. The rest of the cast does seem like its having a hard time keeping up though. Bae Jung-nam, in particular, overacts in almost every scene he features, which is a shame because his is an important character that, in the right hands, could've been a highlight. Two big name actors make an appearance and while talking about one would spoil the actor's involvement, Jung Man-sik as the flight pilot seems completely wasted.
South Korean cinema has shown that it can do action sequences in aisles and narrow spaces quite well; “Train to Busan” and “Snowpiercer” are both among testaments to the fact. While the action sequences in “Ok! Madam” are not of the standard of those two features, it still manages to create decent action sequences in the claustrophobic environment within the airplane. The use of a body double in Uhm Jung-hwa's fight scenes is so obvious and there doesn't even seem a conscious attempt to hide it with clever editing or camera tricks, making a joke about actresses using body doubles within the narrative almost too meta.
These positives do stop “OK! Madam” from being a complete waste of time and Uhm Jung-hwa, specifically, makes the time invested worthwhile, but one can't shake away the feeling that the production feels like a collective of half-baked ideas than a finished product.
