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Festival Film Review: The Grand Heist – a lightweight, fun caper movie, but not for grown-ups

The nine ice-raiders in The Grand Heist
The nine ice-raiders in The Grand Heist

If films require a minimum age classification so that youngsters are not harmed by seeing adult material, shouldn’t there also be a maximum age classification system to warn adults that they are going to be watching material designed for juveniles?

If The Grand Heist, billed as a Joseon dynasty Ocean’s Eleven1, had such a classification, it would be a 16, or maybe even a 12.

OK - we've had that little joke a few times already.
OK – we’ve had that little joke a few times already. Could you please give it a rest now?

The scenario is interesting enough: a corrupt nobleman manages to corner the ice market and a motley band of bandits with a range of motivations plans to rob one of his ice stores and reveal all his misdeeds. A little side plot has the nobleman wanting to put a giggling imbecile on the throne (after the death of King Yeongjo in 1776) to secure his power base. The scene is set for an entertaining romp, and that’s what we get. But much of the entertainment (from the flatulent tomb-raider to the luminous explosive made of distilled urine) is aimed at a schoolboy audience, and grown-ups should manage their expectations accordingly.

Kim Joo-ho (김주호) The Grand Heist (바람과 함께 사라지다, 2012) score-2score-2score-1score-0score-0

  1. For example, in the synopsis provided on hancinema.net. []

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