it is quite entertaining since there is funny scenes and characters in it and the plot is excellent as well...
people who liked movies like Ocean's eleven, twelve etc would enjoy this one as well and also who like logical thinking and such
the story develops slowly and it is enjoyable as the lead character is quite interesting
it does not include any romance so those who wish to see that...well it is not in this movie~ :)
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Bottom line: Going By the Book is a slightly twisted comedy featuring an affable and quirky hero (who's actually a villain -sorta), that you have to see!
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The film starts with the simple and not so captivating story of the cop who is just doing his job very-very fairly. But then he is appointed by his chief as a fake robber during a play-war in the real bank, that's when it becomes more and more interesting. Contains very unusual and surprising plot developing. Some suspense and funny scenes)
You definitely won't find out how it finishes till you watch it to the very end. That's why I loved it.
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"I warned that you might regret this"
I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started Going by the Book. The old synopsis said a traffic cop went undercover in a robbery gang and that was far removed from the story in this film. The actual premise might have been far-fetched but it did provide for both tense moments and hilarious ones.Officer Jung Do Man had been a detective until a failed investigation resulted in his demotion to traffic cop. Upright and by the book he is a thorn in his colleagues’ sides. When the new police chief, Lee Seung Woo arrives, he discovers that there have been a number of unsolved bank robberies. After watching a military exercise, Lee decides to hold a police exercise to strengthen police response time to robberies and coordination with the banks. He secretly chooses Do Man to play the robber, a move the officer warns against. Lee learns the hard way that Jung Do Man takes his job very seriously when the simulation becomes more complicated and more public than Lee had planned.
The film started out slow, and I worried that it was not for me. Once the simulation began, that’s when the fun and tension ramped up. Do Man had done his homework and his way of handling the “hostages” was stressful and funny. Despite not wanting to upset the people in the bank, he was willing to see the simulation through to the end. And return his rented videos on time! Jung Jae Young was suited to a tee as Do Man. He portrayed a good cop who didn’t see the nuance in relationships yet could zero in on illegal patterns. Son Byung Ho brought out Chief Lee’s conflicted emotions as Jung had done exactly what he asked but to a degree he never dreamed.
Going by the Book was an interesting case study in hostage situations even if or perhaps because it was fake. People complained, freaked out, and cooperated. Pride pushed the chief to continue on long after he should have called the simulation off. Thankfully, the humor was not slapstick or bathroom oriented. It evolved organically from the claustrophobic and absurd experiment. I laughed out loud numerous times which is a rarity for me. Silly, serious, ridiculous---yet ended up being quite enjoyable.
12 May 2026
Favorite quote (roughly remembered): “In a fight, which one wins, wushu or boxing?” “The one who has a gun.”
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His performance makes the movie. His character is the driving force and provides the conflict for the entire story so it was great to watch how one man could push an entire bank heist movie forward.
Although this film is firmly in the comedy genre it was not without a few very tense scenes and moments of worry, which i appreciated. There were few scenes that had me laughing out loud and rolling on my bed. I couldn't help myself it was exactly my kind of humour and it continued through out the film.
One of the most memorable pieces of music came in one of my favourite scenes involving umbrellas (when you watch you'll know what i'm talking about) the music is what brought out the comedy and it was awesome. I had to re-watch the scene.
Although this was funny movie I thought was a serious underlying message about policing in Korea and corruption. But that message definitely didn't detract from the comedy.
It was a short movie under the 2 hour mark ( which seems to be rare in Korean film) and it was great treat. My only grouse would be the ending scene. I thought the build up of the movie deserved a better ending but it was still a great movie.
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SOO funny!
I laughed within 1st 5 minutes of the show and kept on laughing throughout. It's not a cringe-y kind of comedy but its seriously really funny because of the unexpected plot twists and so on.The storyline is very unique- I've not seen anything like this before. Afterwards, I found out its adapted from Japanese novel- which probably explains the freshness of the plot, comparing to the usual Kmovie we have seen
The action is amazing, plot twists are great and ending are unexpected
Its very entertaining, pace is good, not boring at all. Highly recommend this!
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