Going by the Book

Going by the Book (original title Bareuge Salja), directed by Ra Hee-chan from a screenplay by Jang Jin, is a South Korean heist comedy remade from a 1991 Japanese film. It follows a newly appointed police chief who orders a mock robbery drill to prepare for real bank heists, only for an excessively by-the-book traffic cop, Jung Do-man (Jung Jae-young), to take his role as the "robber" so seriously that the drill spirals into an actual crisis. The film opened on October 18, 2007, and topped the Korean box office for two consecutive weeks. Who it's for: anyone curious about a heist comedy where an overly rule bound police officer takes a mock robbery drill so seriously it becomes indistinguishable from the real thing, topping the Korean box office for two weeks. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a realistic, serious police procedural, since the film runs on a chain of escalating misunderstandings.