I was mildly amused by the comically messy circumstance among the main characters of South Korean film “Extreme Festival”. No matter how much its heroine and several other characters try their best for saving their little local event, things keep going wrong thanks to not only the incompetence of theirs and others but also some bad luck, and we wonder more about whether they can actually make it to the end of their festival day.

At first, we get to know how the situation has been very stressful for Hye-soo (Kim Jae-hwa), the representative of a small event management company who has to handle a small cultural event in her rural county on one day. She is not particularly willing to do this job because things have been quite problematic even during the preparation period, but she has no choice because she agrees to do this job in exchange of handling some bigger (and more lucrative) local festival later.

Anyway, she assembles several employees of hers and some other part-time employees for the local festival, but they are not that cooperative to say the least. While her business partner Sang-min (Jo Min-jae) is more occupied with clinging onto the fading fame from his writing career, Rae-oh (Park Kang-sub) is rather sulky mainly because he gets employed again after being let go some time ago, and Eun-chae (Jang Se-rim), a young woman eager to grab any opportunity to get out of the town, is the only member who shows more enthusiasm, mainly because she has been just employed as a part-time employee.

Now I have to tell you a bit about how absurd that local festival in question really is. As shown from the opening part of the film, it was initially intended for promoting the historical significance of the county associated with King Jeongjong, the second king of the Joseon Dynasty. Besides sandwiched between King Taejo and King Taejong, who are much more famous in addition to being his father and his younger brother, King Jeongjong does not have anything historically notable (He was on the throne only for a few years, by the way), and that is why it was decided at the last minute that the local festival should change its historical subject.

However, the alternative is not particularly ideal either, except being quite notorious to say the least. To be frank with you, any South Korean person who did not sleep during history school class will tell you that King Yeonsan-gun was an infamous tyrant who did lots of bad and idiotic things before eventually getting himself deposed, though he has surely been a good story material for many local movies and TV drama series (Just watch Lee Joon-ik’s “The King and the Clown” (2005), and you will see what I mean).

Nevertheless, Hye-soo keeps trying for getting things roll during the festival, though that soon turns out to be quite more challenging than expected. For example, Sang-min and Rae-oh do not help her much while casually believing that everything will be all right in the end, and that certainly exasperates Hye-soo again and again. While Eun-chae is willing to do a lot more than expected, she also has her own condition to demand, and that surely brings another headache to Hye-soo.

Meanwhile, there are also two other problems Hye-soo has to cope with right now. The chief of the county, to whom Hye-soo has to obey for her and her company’s benefit, has been rather fastidious about the festival, and this person suddenly makes a demand on some changes to be incorporated into a little comic historical play to be held at the end of the festival day. Naturally, a group of performers are not so amused at all, and that consequently leads to a little strike of theirs.

The movie continues to throw more elements into its fairly busy comic mix. There is a subplot involved with a certain Japanese celebrity recognized by Sang-min and Rae-oh, and then we get another subplot involved with Eun-chae and her best friend. In addition, there is also a young couple who simply seem to be enjoying how messy the festival can be, and they can be regarded as a sort of surrogates for us.

However, these and many other elements in the story somehow do not build up enough comic momentum to engage us, and the movie eventually becomes quite predictable without much surprise for us. Yes, there comes an inevitable moment of emotional meltdown for Hye-soo, who understandably becomes mad as hell and cannot take it anymore later in the story. Yes, there subsequently comes the last-minute solution for Hye-soo and her employees, and we see how they give their best shot. Yes, there naturally comes the feel-good ending where everyone in the story prepares themselves for whatever will be next for their respective lives, and we are supposed to be warmed and touched by that.

At least, the movie has several good main cast members who do more than required by their broad archetype roles. While Kim Jae-hwa dutifully holds the center as required, Jo Min-jae, Park Kang-sub, and Jang Se-rim are convincing in their respective supporting roles, and the special mention goes to Kim Jong-goo, a veteran actor who ably balances his seasoned performer character between humor and gravitas.

On the whole, “Extreme Festival”, directed by Kim Hong-ki, does not entertain me enough for recommendation, but it has some good laughs mainly thanks to the commendable efforts from its several main cast members. It is rather flawed just like the local festival in the film, but it is occasionally amusing at least, so I will let you decide whether you will check it out or not.