Doo-Chan (Kwang-il Choi) is a successful tv personality/comedian. You know he is successful because he has one of those Warhol-ish portraits of himself hanging on his wall. His focus on work has left his marriage in jeopardy and he fears that his henpecking wife, dancer/wannabe actress Eun-hee (Eun-ji Cho), is sleeping around on him. She is, with taekwondo instructor Hwang Kuem-sook (Hyo-jin Gong). The film flashes back to show us how the two first met and became involved with each other, as well as how Doo-chan met Eun-hee, then returns to the present where an unexpected pregnancy brings about the films titular bizarre love triangle.

I'll tell ya' what the most bizarre thing about Bizarre Love Triangle is, the story begins in 2030 on the moon. The film is actually a story being told by Doo-Chan's manager on the eve of a futuristic wedding. It is a really weird plot device, made all the stranger by the wacky setting, an unconvincing set, terrible matte fx, and people decked out in shiny space clothes, neon makeup, and outlandish haircuts. It looks like a parody of a 50's sci-fi film, but somehow it doesn't come off as intentionally silly. I don't know what they were thinking, it seems the setting is only there for an obvious joke, an ending punchline. But, maybe it is just that Asian cinema sensibility, where they decide they can do anything- damn logic, damn common sense, this flicks gonna' start and end in the future!

But, I guess I should have expected as much from Mu-yoeng Lee, who co-wrote the script with Chan-wook Park, the two previously collaborating on Park's JSA and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Mu-yoeng Lee's other directorial credit is a likewise genre blending, toppling, drunkenly weaving flick, The Humanist, which was a Shallow Grave-like dark comedy, drama, thriller.

Eun-ji Cho (Who Are You?, Presidents Last Bang) is suitably cute and unfortunately shrill. I'm not sure why 99% of all Asian comedies feel the need to have some screeching dim-witted girl. Perhaps it is an obsession with Lucille Ball I just don't know about. But, if Korea decides to produce a remake of Absolutely Fabulous, Eun-ji Cho has a lock on the role of Bubble. Hyo-jin Gong unfortunately gets saddled with the dullest character, one who is a perceptually pissed-off and sour, and, worst of all, a stereotypical macho, hard-nosed lesbian. Kwang-il Choi gets to be the sad sack, put-upon, career obsessed, clueless man. Although his character is supposed to be a comedian, the only overtly funny thing about him (even when performing) is his haircut. I guess they figured that was enough. It is a shame that there isn't really a single character in the triangle that is not self-absorbed and truly likable. Kinda' makes all the dramatic fits flat because, for most of the running time, you wish you were following individuals a little less inconsiderate and loveless.

It is suitably funny, though some viewers will no doubt be turned off by how the film veers into some really downbeat, humorless drama in stretches, before doing a 180 back into comedy. Again, I chalk it up to the Asian sensibility, where films tend to freely mix up the mood. The depressing turn in the film takes in the flashback kept me entertained simply because it was so weird, like a Lifetime movie suddenly invaded my comedy of sexual dysfunction.

The DVD: Tai Seng

Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen. Again, when thinking about the image, my mind gets stuck on that damn, cheap ass futuristic set. Ugh. The actual film is fairly standard with serviceable cinematography that doesn't exactly pop with eye candy. Sharpness and contrast details are fine, but the color is a bit muted. The definition was a little off, a bit too grainy, and the disc appears to have some compression issues.

Sound: 5.1 Korean, or 2.0 Stereo Cantonese or Mandarin language tracks, with optional English or Chinese subtitles. I watched it with the original the Korean language track. First, I thought the opening futuristic scenes had a strange reverb effect, but I soon found that the entire Korean track is affected by a distortion that makes the characters sound like they are talking into tin cans. It varies too, at some times mildly noticeable, in others pretty severe. I tried it with several speaker set ups and systems, and the result was always the same. The Cantonese and Mandarin dubs do not have this problem. Well, at least the subs were fine. I kept waiting to hear the New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" on the soundtrack, to no avail. Guess the producers aren't new wave fans.

Extras: Trailer for the film plus more Tai Seng release trailers.— Photo Gallery— Cast and Crew Filmographies.

Conclusion: A bit of an uneven comedy. I found it amusing it bits and pieces, though the characters tend to wear on you. Still, it has that certain foreign charm in its kookiness. The disc is not all that great, so curious comedy lovers will want to stick to giving the film a rental.