Small Town Rivals (2007) Movie Review

“Small Town Rivals” is the latest offering from director Jang Gyoo Seung, who previously scored commercial hits with the likes of “Lovely Rivals” and “My Teacher, Mr. Kim”. He continues here in the same broad vein with a comedy about one of the most popular subjects in modern Korean cinema, namely small town life. The film proved to be yet another success for the in-form Jang, performing well at the box office and winning a nomination for Best Screenplay at the 44th Daejong Awards.

The film begins with small town farmer Cho Choon Sam (Cha Seung Won, who played the title role in Jang’s “My Teacher, Mr. Kim” and who recently featured in “My Son”) being made village chief, mainly since nobody else wants to do the job. However, the lazy man is spurred into action when a former classmate of his called Noh Dae Gyu (Yu Hae Jin, also in the excellent “Tazza: The High Rollers”) is elected local magistrate, stirring up old feelings of jealousy. Although things start in a friendly enough fashion the two soon run into trouble, with Choon Sam trying to make his mark by preventing Dae Gyu’s plans to build a nuclear waste disposal facility nearby. Needless to say, things spiral rapidly out of control, leading to a number of crazy and increasingly high stakes confrontations.

Unsurprisingly, Cha Seung Won and Yu Hae Jin, who have actually starred together in a number of previous films such as “Over the Border” and “Blood Rain”, make for a great comic pairing, playing off against each other very well and giving the film a solid foundation to build upon. Their rivalry simmers slowly before flaring up, and although the true depth of their childhood friendship is not made clear until a little late in the proceedings, there is a genuine chemistry between the two which makes their long awaited, inevitable reconciliation and emotional outpourings ring true. Cha and Yu lend their characters a number of quirky little mannerisms and eccentricities which bring them to amusing and vivid life, and although Choon Sam is probably the more fleshed out and overtly sympathetic of the duo, both are likeable buffoons who the viewer quickly warms to. As a result, the constant petty one-upmanship between the protagonists is very entertaining and though the plot is pretty basic and predictable, the film is engaging right through to the end.

The film is arguably one of the funnier Korean comedies of recent years, with the gags coming fast in a pleasant mixture of broad physical slapstick and clever dialogue. As such the jokes range from toilet humour and scenes of characters trying to look down women’s blouses through to some surprisingly cynical and spot on satire regarding politics. Probably the funniest sequences in the film revolve around Choon Sam’s incompetent efforts to protest against Dae Gyu’s nuclear facility plans, which include a fake hunger strike and threats to set himself on fire, suitably accompanied by mock-inspirational songs on the soundtrack. Also hilarious are some zany flashbacks showing the two during their younger years, complete with daft hairdos and outrageous dancing.

Jang’s fun, bouncy direction helps to keep things light and lively throughout, and the film has a nice picturesque look that brings out the natural charms of the rural village and surrounding area without ever wallowing in saccharine nostalgia for small town life in the manner of “Welcome to Dongmakgol” and others. He also throws in a good few moments of visual flair, with some wacky speeded up camera work, split screen shots and even a few surreal cartoon flourishes, all of which perfectly complement the film’s bright and breezy air. At the same time, Jang manages to balance this by keeping things grounded and believable, and he shows a real common touch, never losing sight of the fact that the plot is basically a heartfelt tale of ordinary people.

It’s this which allows “Small Town Rivals” to really connect with the viewer, and the film works on several different levels as good, unpretentious comic entertainment. Boosted by a pair of great performances by the two stars, it never strays from its aim of providing plenty of laughs laced with a little light social commentary, and in this it certainly succeeds, indeed more so than other similarly themed films of recent years.

Jang Gyoo-seong (director) / Jang Gyoo-seong (screenplay)
CAST: Cha Seung-won, Yoo Hae-jin, Byeon Hee-bong, Choi Jeong-won