Rules of Dating (2005)

It took me from start to finish about 3 months to complete this film. It is a mystery to me why it's called 'Rules of Dating' when in fact it has very little to do with dating.

It tells the story of two teachers: a rather selfish and unscrupulous man who is also a liar and a cheat; and an emotionally unstable woman with such low self-esteem & clear mental issues it's a wonder she didn't off herself during the course of the show.

With a pair of damaged, rather unlikable protagonists it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict the train wreck of a relationship that is about to culminate between them. Unlike the Japanese movie, Happily Ever After, where you meet equally tragic individuals trying to figure out the meaning of life & love in a poignant, slightly hopeless, but always heartwarming journey, you'll struggle to understand why the heck Choi Hung & Lee Yoo Rim in Rules of Dating are together because they clearly shouldn't be. It's a very co-dependent, unhealthy, immature relationship between two people who literally have NO redeeming qualities. The acting inspired very little empathy or faith that these characters will grow into better people.

Overall the plot and overarching story seemed very ill-conceived, as if the film's only purpose is to say the world is filled with some pretty strange effers. If like me you weren't born yesterday, and thus already knew this, this movie offers nothing in the way of an engaging plot, likable leads or a memorable ending. In fact when it ends you'll just be glad it did, if only so you'll never have to see these weird ass people again.

Music - what music?

Rewatch value: 0

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this is the list of awards this show was nominated or won:
2005 Blue Dragon Film Awards[2]
Best Screenplay – Ko Yun-hee and Han Jae-rim
Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
Nomination – Best New Director – Han Jae-rim
2005 Korean Film Awards
Nomination – Best Film - Rules of Dating
Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
Nomination – Best Screenplay - Ko Yun-hee and Han Jae-rim
Nomination – Best Music - Lee Byung-woo
Nomination – Best New Director – Han Jae-rim
2005 Pusan Film Critics Awards
Best Film - Rules of Dating
Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
Best Screenplay – Ko Yun-hee and Han Jae-rim
Best New Director – Han Jae-rim
2006 Baeksang Arts Awards
Best Screenplay – Ko Yun-hee and Han Jae-rim
Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
2006 Grand Bell Awards
Best New Director – Han Jae-rim

All this for a movie I found boring in the extreme for nearly 5/6ths of the show. It took 2 hours to get to it's point and okay...got it. Whatever. It's nothing new under the sun and not the best portrayed either. I won't repeat everything that was said by the other reviewers because I pretty much agree with them. The relationship in this movie was twisted and weird in the extreme. Yet. Oddly. I keep thinking about these 2 strange people and their story. LIke my mom always said, there is a lid for every pot. Both the lid and the pot were pretty cracked in this. Still, there was something about it. Not a movie I'd be going around telling people to watch because it's "so good". But that is a heck of a lot of awards it got nominated for! Someone was obviously getting more out of it than the rest of us!

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So i rewatched this movie and decided to make a review.

I actually liked this movie the first time i watched it despite the problematic things with it. Im not sure why though. Maybe its the ambience or the music or my fondness for the cast despite the problematic characters.

*SPOILERS*

Is this even romance? How is there dating in the title? Bwodxjql

Park Hae-il's char was forcing himself on Kang Hye-jung's char. So Im totally not sure how the couple got together. I have no idea how it became mutual attraction. If my memory serves well, he sexually harassed her multiple times aside from well sexually assaulting her. Yea a horrible character.

Im all for damaged characters. Like shes an insomniac but somehow she can sleep well around him. Im weak for a dynamic like that. But then they made problematic into romantic. And i cant get behind that. She told him no countless of times. And what did he do? He just pushed his way through! With force! But then somehow they fell for each other.

And then the ending. I think im most annoyed by the ending. Why was she apologizing to him? Ok i get it. She pushed him off the cliff, so to speak. But its not like her allegations were false. She simply outed him for his horrible deeds and im glad she did. The guy did lose his job but thats the consequence for his actions. But he kept acting like the victim. And then after making up, they act like nothing happened. No sort of repentance, not even an apology from his part. Hes just like 'the only wrong thing i did was to like you'. No. This is all sorts of problematic.

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