Extreme Job

A narcotics squad is known for failing; their chief is under pressure and this is their last chance. To watch a criminal organisation, they buy the fried chicken shop across the street and plan to use it as an observation post. The problem is that they have to run it. Then the chicken turns out to be unexpectedly good and the place becomes the hottest spot in the city. The subject is not police work but the job taking over. The squad stops watching and starts genuinely selling chicken; the money and the attention are things no investigation ever gave them. The form is comedy at unbroken pace; the jokes come out of the cutting, and the long fight in the final section is staged seriously. The production changed Korean box office history. It broke the daily record by passing a million tickets on its opening weekend, drew close to sixteen million admissions and became the country's second most-watched film by tickets sold, while reaching the highest gross recorded up to then. Lee Byeong-heon directs. Ryu Seung-ryong plays the squad chief and Lee Hanee the only woman on the team. Who it is for: viewers who like Korean comedy and fast genre mixing. Who it is not for: anyone expecting realistic police work; the logic runs entirely on jokes and the final section goes well into excess.