About This DVD

Strangely, the isle seems to be populated only by five saucy old widows who apparently haven't laid eyes on a single human male in over twenty years! While the men search for the missing woman, they are forced to deal with a group of outrageous geriatrics who are more than willing to make the men's trip a living nightmare! Can the not-so-dynamic duo survive the figurative slings and arrows dealt out by the bizarre grandmothers? Will their quest for the almighty dollar be successful? And just what are those ladies up to on the deserted island of Mapado?

The plot of this movie is fairly straightforward. Two men - an unlikely combination of a corrupt detective and a good-looking gangster - happen to work together as a woman working for a former gangster boss runs away with a Lotto jackpot worth 16 billion won (yes, this cinematic device is now used in almost all of Korean comedy movies). The boss orders his underling Jae-chul (Lee Jeong-jin) to nab the woman, and Chung-soo (Lee Moon-sik), a detective who is good at getting bribes rather than arresting criminals, gets involved in the chase because of the huge amount of money at stake. The two men finally get a clue of the woman's whereabouts: a remote island called "Mapado." They set sail toward the island, believing that they would finally get their hands on the Lotto money. But what await their arrival are five elderly women, not the young woman who got away with the Lotto. There women rarely see people, and it remains mysterious almost toward the end of the film about what they are really up to on the small yet beautiful island...

One of the many attractions of this movie is the seasoned word plays by the elderly women, all of whom are played by veteran actresses. Their combined TV and movie careers add up to 100 years, the film's PR brochure proudly claims, and their acting experience is visible. Jin-an (Kim Soo-mi) constantly uses four letter words, and her angry tone spices up an otherwise bland mood on the island. Je-ju (Kil Hae-yeon), the youngest lady who cannot speak and holds one of the keys to the island's mystery, shows a solid performance. Kil is one of the seasoned drama actresses, and makes a debut on the silver screen through this film. Other TV drama heavyweights like Yeo Woon-gye, Kim Eul-dong, Kim Hyeong-ja join forces to build the dramatic effect.

mapadoList: US$29.52Sale: US$25.09