The Accidental Detective

Kim Joung-hoon's 2015 South Korean film pairs the owner of a comic shop obsessed with unsolved murders and a detective who has been suspended. Dae-man has blogged for years, studies crime scene photographs and wants to get involved in a real investigation; the chance arrives when a friend is accused of murder. Tae-soo, the former detective, despises his amateurism but has no other option. The film runs a crime plot in a comic register, with the mismatch between the two men as the source of the humour while the investigation itself is built more soundly than expected. It keeps to the habits of Korean commercial cinema in this mode: emotional family scenes in the middle section and an accelerating resolution at the end. A sequel followed. Who it's for: viewers who like Korean comic crime films. Who it's not for: anyone expecting serious suspense; the film turns to joking often.