Start-Up (film)


Start-Up is a 2019 South Korean comedy-drama film written and directed by Choi Jung-yeol. Based on the webtoon Start by Jo Geum-san, the film stars Ma Dong-seok, Park Jung-min, Jung Hae-in, Yum Jung-ah and Choi Sung-eun. It was released on December 18, 2019.

Plot

Against his mother's advice, Go Taek-il leaves home and ends up working at a Chinese restaurant run by a huge man named Geo-seok. At the same time, his friend Woo Sang-pil starts working for a private loan business. The two young men experience the ups and downs of being adults.

Cast

Main

Principal photography began on March 8, 2019 and filming was completed on June 27.

Reception

Critical response

Yoon Min-sik of The Korea Herald said that "the film initially felt like unoriginal, unfunny film, but it does a good job of creating likeable characters". However, "outside of the characters, the film doesn’t really offer much" as "the story is never sufficiently developed enough to be appealing" and "a lot of the jokes fall flat." Kim Boram of Yonhap gave a similar review, mentioning a story which "loses humor and becomes discursive and distracted as the film tries to deal with too many social issues" and a "corny and formulaic plot" with "not-so-flashy action scenes will disappoint those who expect a big blockbuster."

Accolades