What does a narcotics team do when the fried-chicken shop it opened as a cover turns into the busiest place in the neighbourhood? That question drives Extreme Job, Lee Byeong-heon's 2019 South Korean action comedy, which runs 111 minutes.
What is Extreme Job about?
The detectives of a drug squad set their sights on a criminal organization and decide that the only way to get close is to watch it from somewhere nobody would suspect. Their answer is to go undercover as the staff of a chicken restaurant. The plan has one flaw nobody saw coming: the chicken is delicious. Word spreads, customers queue, and the officers find themselves frying, serving and taking orders at a pace that leaves little room for surveillance. The film mines its comedy from that collision, as a group of police officers try to hold on to their real assignment while a thriving business keeps demanding their attention.
About the cast
Ryu Seung-ryong is first on the cast list, followed by Lee Ha-nee, Jin Sun-kyu, Lee Dong-hwi and Gong Myeong. Shin Ha-kyun, Oh Jung-se and Kim Eui-sung are also credited. Because the story follows a squad rather than a lone hero, it plays as an ensemble piece in which the humour comes from the group as a whole.
Context & significance
Catalogued under action, crime and comedy, the film belongs to the workplace-farce end of the police genre, where the gap between a serious mission and a ridiculous cover story does most of the work. The undercover premise is a familiar one in crime cinema; what sets this one apart is that the disguise succeeds on its own terms, turning stakeout routine into kitchen routine. Food is central to the joke, and anyone who enjoys Korean fried chicken will recognise the affection with which the restaurant setting is used. The title was well received by audiences and is an easy choice for a group or family evening when something light but fast-moving is wanted.
Watching Extreme Job on Ktime
K-Time offers Extreme Job with a Persian dub as well as Persian subtitles, so both dubbed viewing and original-language viewing with Farsi text are possible. This page is free to read. To press play you need to log in to a K-Time account, and the whole experience, from menus to search, is available in Farsi for Persian speakers living abroad.