OVER THE RAINBOW (PG) 2002
SYNOPSIS: May contain spoilers... Jin-Soo, a man trying to recover fragments of memories he lost after a traffic accident. Trying to retrace memories of a lover he no longer remembers. Yeon-Hee, a woman working at a 'Lost & Found' center of a subway station trying to erase and forget the memories of a love she once had. Two parallel stories reflecting the irony of love. A mysterious rediscovering of a faceless lover and the struggle to let go the pain of love. Under the brilliant light of a rainbow, will these two souls find what is closest to their hearts? Korean romantic drama directed by Ahn Jin-woo Starring Lee Jung-jae & Jang Jin-young.  Running time: 109mins Language: Korean with English subtitles   OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.overtherainbow.co.kr [Korean text]
HEROIC-CINEMA'S REVIEW: Do not be fooled by the poster! That perky and colourful poster screams "Sanitised romantic comedy!" Over the Rainbow is nothing of the sort. For one thing – there is nothing perky about it - in fact none of the characters raises above a subdued chuckle during the whole movie. Being labelled as a romantic comedy is probably misleading because I’m sure ye-olde sappy Hollywood romantic comedy springs to mind just by the sheer fact that it’s all we have been fed over the last decade. That is not to say that Over the Rainbow isn’t enjoyable, humorous or romantic – in fact it has a lot going for it. For a start, there is none of that hyperactive neuroticism in Over the Rainbow – the narrative isn’t collectively pounded over the audience and the one-liners aren’t screamed out at you. The feelings infused into the characters and the story is subtle and realistic, the characters bordering on the mundane even!
The crux of this flick revolves around an investigation of a girl whom Jin Soo [Lee Jeong-jae] held the torch for during college and it seems, for much longer after that.  The hook to the story is that he’s a weatherman who is suffering from partial amnesia after a car accident. So he can read the weather but cannot remember the girl he loved in college!! With the help of old college friend Yun-hee (Jang Jin-young), he recovers many fragments of memories to discover the identity of this mysterious woman. Cue many flashbacks to of riotous days in college, bad haircuts and some serious growing pains. The director handles each part of the puzzle, cutting back and forth from the present to the past with ease, progressively revealing a bit more of the bigger picture, tempting the audience into the mystery. And it works too, it’s an easy 2 hours to pass. The only flaw I can think of – when it tries to be too cute during the college flashbacks and towards the end, the big finale is dragged out for too long and is inevitably predictable.
Despite that the resulting package is a film that is more of a romantic mystery melodrama more than comedy but is still a pleasant and charming enough tale about past loves, the importance of living for the present and taking the weather lightly!
Rating: 7 dancing weathermen out of 10 Reviewed by Ching Yee

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