Rules of Dating (2005) User Reviews

A realistic romance melodrama

[zhixiong · 7/10 · 28 August 2005]

The lead actress in this movie, 'Yeonae-ui mokjeok' (international title: Rules of Dating) has grown up since her role as Mido in Oldboy (2003).

Rules of Dating is a realistic romance melodrama about how a teacher ( Park Hae-il) flirt with a female student teacher (Kang Hye-jeong). However in terms of age, the student teacher is much older than the teacher.

The movie starts off slow but picks up in the second hour. Throughout the movie, we get to see the relationship between the two teachers flourish and fluctuate periodically. The interesting bit is that Kang Hye-jeong is already engaged to a doctor and Park Hae-il has a steady girlfriend for 6 years.

Recommended to anyone who likes realistic romance stories without Hollywood special effects.

Mao points: 7/10

A ludicrous, self-defeating treatise on sexism in Korean society

[kjihwan · 5/10 · 28 January 2006]

The title, meaning 'The Purpose of Dating' in English, is extremely misleading: this is a would-be critique of the misogynist, sexist culture manifest in Korean society. Kang Hye-Jung, of 'Oldboy' fame, is an intern teacher working with a lecherous, insincere Park Hae-Il, who asks her to sleep with him on her first day of work and continues to hit on her. She resists him at first, then tries to match his aggressive, unreasonable advances with equally outrageous counteroffers, then starts to fall for him.

Much of what the film tries to do is very laudable: through Hong it asks some troubling questions about the culture of victimization women who are unfairly labeled as 'loose' or 'man-eaters' suffer in Korea. 'The Purpose of Dating' has some very felt words to say about the hypocrisy of such misogynistic attitudes: Hong's former lover who abandoned her and spread poisonous lies around to make her seem like a desperate stalker in order to save his own reputation; the female teachers at the school who pompously warn of 'home-wreckers'; and Lee, who exploits his positional superiority to prey on Hong, are all both the cause and the symptoms of the sexist, witch-hunting culture still prevalent in Korea. In terms of drama, there are some scenes, particularly the 'moment of truth' at the school towards the end where Hong turns the table on Lee, that stir the blood in a way not seen since Christian faced off with his father in 'Festen'.

However, the storyline mechanisms which call for Hong to fall in love with her tormentor/lover Lee are so insufferably smug and contrived, not to mention wildly implausible - the highlight being Hong's inexplicable attraction to Lee - that any notion of realism or social relevance are largely thwarted. It won't do to simply film the movie in a realistic style or deal with realistic situations, because Hong's character is infuriatingly inconsistent, and Lee depressingly dislikeable. It completely undermines the movie's credibility to have such ridiculous lead characters, never mind have them carry out the most nonsensical romance seen in quite sometime. And the film's coda, which sees Hong and Lee together in gleefully contrasting circumstances, is mind-blowingly unconvincing: Lee, one of the most repulsive cinematic creations of the last 5 years, gets nowhere near his just deserts, ending up in the arms of the now-rehabilitated, happily employed Hong, whom he does not deserve. A truly ludicrous, self-defeating ending if ever there was one.

A mediocre swing from South Korea...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 30 December 2016]

As an avid fan of Asian cinema, I did of course jump at the chance to sit down and watch "Rules For Dating" (aka "Yeonae-ui mokjeok") when I happened to find the DVD movie by sheer luck.

The storyline did have some good and bright moments, however, the overall impression of the movie that I was left with was little more than mediocre. Why? Well, because the story just wasn't outstanding, nor were the events that took place throughout the course of the movie.

"Rules of Dating" is about a young teacher who has transferred to a new school to evade her troubled past. But the teacher who takes her under his wing for tutelage is driven by an insatiable sex drive, and soon starts making his advances on the new teacher. This relationship soon starts to turn troublesome for the new teacher and things from the past start resurfacing.

The acting in the movie was good enough, but it was just hindered by a wobbly storyline which sent the characters off course. And that was one of the reasons why this movie just didn't really rise above mediocrity for me.

But worse of all was the ending; that really was the drop that ultimately kept the movie in the mediocre soup. After all the things that had happened to the characters and the story, then it just made no sense why the woman teacher would do what she did. And it was just one of the more ridiculous movie endings I have seen in a long, long time.

"Rules For Dating" was not an impressive directorial debut for Jae-rim Han, whom later has moved on to make far better movies.

For a South Korean movie, then "Rules For Dating" wasn't outstanding or particularly thrilling. There are far better movies available if you enjoy South Korean movies. And this is hardly a movie that you will watch more than once, because the storyline just doesn't have enough contents to support multiple viewings.

Twisted fun

[YNOT_at_the_Movies · 26 March 2006]

I really enjoyed this Korean film "Rules of Dating." You would think this is a romantic comedy from the poster, not quite. It's very hard to say what it is. It's murky, funny, weird, blunt, twisted, and fun. The first line of the film is: "Are you wet?" the handsome school teacher Lee asked the newly arrived student teacher Choi. No, they are not in the rain, they are sitting on a bench on campus in the beautiful fall weather. Lee is hitting on Choi as soon as he sees her, while both of them have a lover of their own. Nevertheless, the flirtation goes up and down, never a quiet moment.

The movie is very frank about flirting, sex, dating, and may I say, "sexual harassment?" Wait, that's a term only used in America. I think the American audience will be appalled by Lee's behavior, but the movie can get away with it because it's a Korean film and set in Korea.

If you enjoyed "My Sassy Girl," this will be a similar love hate drama, only smarter. The film dances around the true feeling of these characters and plays the mind of its audience. Just when I think they are in love, the film let Lee and Choi show me that they are just flirting. When I think they are just having some fun, they start to show me that they are in love. It's almost like I am dating somebody but I can never figure out what my date is really thinking. Of course, this is not a Kim Ki-duk's film, so I was hoping some more twists and turns (with my twisted mind) to happen while... oh well, I still love this film.

Not all that realistic and contrived of unlikable and demeaning characters

[KineticSeoul · 3/10 · 29 June 2012]

This movie was a hit in Korea when it came out so decided to check it out. What this is, is about despicable and demeaning guy that tries everything to sleep with his coworker even though he has a girlfriend. And the way he tries to achieve this is an embarrassment. His philosophy on relationships is just degrading. A lot of Korean movies, you just can't like most of the characters because they are despicable with no moral values. And this guy in this movie is just like one of those characters, seen worse but that ain't saying much. Everything about this movie is so awkward, I am not sure is most Korean act the way it's portrayed in this movie. But it's just awkward plain and simple. I don't know why this movie did so well in Korea cause it just isn't a very good adult romantic comedy. My guess is, it's because the characters are people a lot of the audiences can relate with. It can be a movie that makes couples want to have sex. Or the male audiences just wanted to see Kang Hye-Jung naked. The ballsy dialogue and blunt aspect is what makes this movie stand out, but the direction this movie heads makes both the main characters dis-likable. Some say this is suppose to go in a realistic direction, I never grew up in Korea but in the US the things that happen almost 99% of the time you won't really get away with or make it work. Really disliked how the guys grotesque approach makes the lead girl fall for him. The whole movie is appalling in a negative way and annoying all the way through. I give this movie a 3.8 cause there are some people like this in the real world and is a bit of a different take on movies that revolve around relationship. And because when it comes to the gossip and rumor aspect of this movie I ended up having slight remorse for the characters. And at least when it came to that part of the movie it was realistic and watchable.

3.8/10