PILOT (파일럿) (2024)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Kim Han-Kyul
Cast: Cho Jung-seok, Lee Joo-myoung, Han Sun-hwa, Shin Seung-ho, Oh Min-ae
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 15 August 2024

Synopsis: A story about a pilot who suddenly loses his job, then unexpectedly gets rehired with a new identity.

Movie Review:

Cross dressing is a recurring theme in comedies and even serious arthouse dramas. From Tootsie to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to The Danish Girl, there’s something magical or gimmicky in watching a famous star transforming into a glamorous woman. And in this case instead of Dustin Hoffman or Eddie Redmayne, we have Cho Jung-seok (Exit, Hit-and-Run Squad) donning heavy makeup and stilettos.

A remake of the 2012 Swedish comedy, Cockpit, Cho returns to the big screen after a hiatus of five years as Han Jung-woo, a famous self-indulgent star pilot who loses his job, marriage and custody of his young son after making a sexist remark.

Failing to find a similar job in the aviation industry and desperate in need of money to pay for child support and mortgage loan, Jung-woo resorts to impersonate as a woman with the help of his YouTuber beauty content creator younger sister to enter an airline company as a female pilot. The transformation turned out to be a success and Jung-woo manages to become a co-pilot and even befriend a fellow colleague, Seul-gi (Lee Joo-myoung).

Pilot is primarily a movie that coincides with the #MeToo movement hoping to break the silence in a male-dominated industry and demonstrates how women are often talked down and verbally assaulted despite being as or more capable than their male counterparts at times. An apparent leaked video showed Jung-woo sucking up to his boss while enabling his inappropriate comments on the ladies in turn leads to his downfall.

However, the idea often gives way to the absurdity and silly antics of Jung-woo’s cross-dressing because director Kim Han-gyul and writer Jo Yoo-jin knows it’s easier and probably more effective to use comedy as a way to spread the message across. The simplicity of the story allows them to stage a few hilarious gags liked Jung-woo’s junior, Hyun-seok (Shin Seung-ho ) who somehow develops a keen interest in “her”. There’s also one or too many gags on Jung-woo’s ever changing voice and a significantly exaggerated emergency landing that turned Jung-woo into a nationwide heroine.

Cho Jung-seok is extremely likeable as the main character even though his character is stuck in his own ego initially, ignoring the presence of his mother, his wife and his son. His comic timing is genuinely impeccable and he seems born for the part of “Han Jung-mi”. It’s immense fun as well to watch Han Sun-hwa who steals the movie with her occasional wacky appearances as Jung-woo’s outright candid sister together with Oh Min-ae as their loving mother.

Despite the good intention to deliver some serious messages about gender discrimination and such, Pilot will be best remembered for Cho’s sassy performance and the cheap comical cross-dressing gags.

Movie Rating:

(Pilot’s greatest asset is Cho Jung-seok who crank up the laugh-o-meter whatever he appears on screen as Jung-mi)

Review by Linus Tee