Kick the Moon

No less punch-drunk than Kim's previous Attack the Gas Station!, but noticeably broader in its anatomy of Korea's social contradictions, this comedy-drama centres on a romantic triangle: a tough-love schoolteacher whose inner bully is barely latent and a suave gangland enforcer with straight-but-not-too-narrow principles vying for the affections of a big sister/noodle-shop proprietor who could give the world lessons in pragmatism. Ten years ago, on a school trip to the historic town of Gyeongju, an epic rumble took place, led by alpha-male Choi Gi-Dong; the one kid who chickened out was nerdy Park Young-Joon. Cut to the present: Park (Lee Sung-Jae) is now a smooth Seoul gangster back in town to sort out a thuggish local crimelord, while Choi (Cha) is the local school's high-minded sports teacher. This distant descendant of Angels with Dirty Faces is a live-action cartoon that acts out a social conundrum and gives the moral compass a good spin. Ineffably hip.