Following the recipe of Shin Sang-ok, Lim Hee-jae presents his own version of the episodic family melodrama, in a film that includes the creme de la creme of the era s acting. Interestingly, though, he has managed to also include a couple of subtle political comments, which the censors of the time did not get wind of. Let us get things from the beginning though, A Returned Man, Choi Eun-hee, Choi Gyeong-ok, Heo Jang-kang, Kim Jin-kyu, Kim Soo-yong, Kim Young-hee-II, Lee Bin-hwa, Lee Min, Lim Hee-jae, Nam Yang-il, Shin Sang-ok, Um Aing-ran
OK, so episode four was not the end of the story of Yoo-ra, the passive-aggressive girl fuming after her breakup, and Nam-ho, the gruff soccer player who lives next door. Why this story specifically of the three in the "Adult Trainee" omnibus needed an extra episode is unclear to me. It has by far the most generic plotline. But whatever editing should have been managed in the first two episodes, the third is a dramatic improvement where pretty much all the interesting stuff happens, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan
The second story of "Adult Trainee" isn t quite self-contained. Or at least, the end of the fourth episode was way more ambiguous than the one at the end of the second episode. But more importantly the story in general is a lot less interesting. Yoo-ra (played by Jo Yoo-jung) is a high school student who s still nursing her pride from a nasty breakup. So for somewhat convoluted reasons, she enlists the aide of her longtime friend Nam-ho (played by Ryeoun) to pretend to be her boyfriend, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan