My Little Bride

YA Entertainment | 117 minutes | 2003 | Not Rated | Directed by: Kim Ho-Jun |
Standard DVD reviewed by: Fusion3600

Sang-Min (Kim Rae-Won) knows how to have a good time, while overseas to learn, he has enjoyed drinks, friends, and of course, women. He loves to party down, but his real reason to be there is education, to become a teacher. When he learns that the man who raised his father is in the hospital however, he returns home. He is greeted at the airport by the man's granddaughter Bo-Eun (Moon Geun-Young), a childhood friend of Sang-Min. The two families are very close, but as Bo-Eun's grandfather lies on his death bed, he reveals that a pact was made to one day bring the families even closer. The agreement was for Sang-Min and Bo-Eun to be married, which comes as a shock to them both, of course. The two want to honor his last wish, so they get married, but with Sang-Min in college and Bo-Eun in high school, it won't be a smooth transition. Can this odd couple manage to make the marriage work, or are they on the wrong side of fate?

As frequent readers should know, I don't have much patience for romantic comedies. But just as recent horror movies from Korea have been fun, I figured perhaps the nation's romantic comedies would follow suit. In the end, I wouldn't call My Little Bride a fantastic picture, but it was good and better than I expected. The clash of serious situations and slapstick humor might unsettle some viewers, but I thought the balance was well handled. In other words, this is not like a romantic comedy from the United States, its more brisk and focused on the comedy. The romance is there, but it is handled naturally and allowed to develop, so this isn't forced like we're used to. Kim Rae-Won and Moon Geun-Young work well together and have great chemistry, the two carry the movie and really make it work. My Little Bride is a fun movie that provides solid entertainment. I would recommend it to anyone who likes brisk, fun comedies with a unique presence.

My Little Bride is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The image is very sharp and clean, which provides a lot of detail and allows the film's colorful visuals to shine. The colors look rich and bold at all times, with no bleeds or other errors and flesh tones seem natural in most scenes. I did notice a slight red tinge in the flesh tones at times, but nothing serious The black levels appear well balanced also, which opens up the detail and lets the colors stream across the screen. I did see a couple compression snafus, but aside from those, this movie looks great.

The original Korean soundtrack is preserved via a DTS 5.1 option, which is a welcome inclusion. As per usual with romantic comedies, the main audio power comes from the musical soundtrack. The soundtrack comes off very well here and adds some much needed depth to the experience. The rest of the audio is more subtle though, which means the material is never forced into the surrounds. The sound effects come across in fine form, while the dialogue is crisp and at a proper volume at all times. This disc also includes a 2.0 surround option, as well as English subtitles.

This disc includes a behind the scenes featurette, some deleted scenes, television promo spots, a music video, and the film's teaser and theatrical trailers.