Movie Review: Part-Time Spy

Release Date: 6 April 2017

Runtime: 117 minutes

Rating: PG13 (Some sexual references)

 StarArena Rating: 4 / 5 stars

The plot: Voice phishing has established itself as one of the biggest scams in recent years, with damages amounting to $100 million annually. These scam callers attempt to obtain personal and private information, typically by offering fake financial services and loans, only to have you transfer large sums of money to pseudo accounts. What happens when a government agency falls prey to it?

35-year-old Jang Young-sil (acted by Kang Ye-won) has never held a full-time job her entire life, despite having countless (and random) qualifications. After being fired from her contract job at the National Security Agency, she accidentally discovers her ex-boss’s (acted by Jo Jae-yun) secret… The agency lost half a million dollars to a voice phishing scam because of him!

Desperate for a job, Young-sil offers to go undercover at the phishing centre, and strikes a deal with her ex-boss. If she successfully retrieves the money without alerting the authorities, she will be given a permanent position at the agency. While undercover at the phishing centre, she meets foul-mouthed cop Na Jung-an (acted by Han Chae-ah) from the Intellectual Crimes Unit, who was assigned to infiltrate the organisation to uncover the identity of the mastermind behind its operations. The two reluctantly join forces, but each with different agendas. What will be the final outcome of their undercover mission?

The Review: The movie which runs close to 2 hours is actually pretty entertaining and fun to watch! Not only are the casts perfect for the role, the plot isn’t boring and keeps you on edge. The occasional jokes throughout the movie make the movie light-hearted and easy to watch.

Though same might say the plot is a bit cliche – especially since there are many American movies with similar storyline, I think it still stands out from the rest.

Kang Ye-won is perfect for the rather ditzy role in the movie. Her character makes the viewers silently root for her as she tries hard (and rather clumsily) to achieve her role as an undercover spy.

Han Chae-ah is also ideal for the cop role. Her occasional outbursts of curse words made the movie more hilarious and light-hearted! I loved the eventual friendship between the two protagonists as well as the plot twist in the end!

All in all, I really enjoyed the movie and would definitely recommend for fans of the Korean movie scene to go and check it out once the movie is out on 6 April. I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed! 🙂

Do leave a comment once you have watched it and we would love to hear your take on this movie, so do let us know!

Check out the trailer for Part Time Spy here if you have not!

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We would like to thank Encore Films for inviting us to the press screening of Part-Time Spy as well as for the pictures and movie synopsis provided.