Pilot movie review: Korean cross-dressing airline comedy takes on gender imbalance

4/5 stars

Men masquerading as women have been central to some of the most celebrated comedies of all time, from Some Like It Hot to Mrs Doubtfire. But in the current climate, where trans rights are at the forefront of sociopolitical discussions the world over, is there still a place for a broad, cross-dressing comedy?

On the basis of Kim Han-gyul’s Pilot, the answer is a resounding yes, a sharp tactful comedy that identifies precisely where its premise might be deemed problematic today, and tackles those issues head on.

His world comes crashing back down to Earth, however, when a drunken sexist outburst is leaked online. Jung-woo is fired by the airline, his wife leaves him despite having a young son together and he is branded a pariah by the entire industry.

All seems lost until his sister Jung-mi (Han Sun-hwa), an aspiring online makeover artist, helps transform Jung-woo into a woman.

As determined young aviator “Han Jung-mi”, he applies to a rival airline and is immediately hired by its owner (Seo Jae-hee), who sees this ambitious young woman as the perfect face for her own devious business plans.

Jung-woo’s merry misadventures in drag lead to an endless procession of familiar gags, from numerous wardrobe malfunctions and using the wrong bathrooms to fending off the advances of male colleagues, all of which Jo handles with delightfully flustered aplomb.

While the plot hews dangerously close to 1982’s Oscar-winning Tootsie, Pilot comes into its own when highlighting its stacked cast of sharply realised female characters.

Lee Joo-myoung is excellent as fellow pilot Seul-ki, who is determined that she be respected for her aptitude rather than her looks, but whose growing friendship with new colleague “Jung-mi” might go further than she anticipates.

Former Secret girl group member Han Sun-hwa delivers comedy gold as Jung-woo’s sister and confidante, not least in a hilarious scene when she gets drunk and emotional at their mother’s birthday party.

Seo Jae-hee and Oh Min-ae (as Jung-woo’s mother) also help ensure that Jung-woo is perpetually surrounded by strong capable women every bit his equal, if not better.

Pilot is less a tale of deception than one of upending the status quo and highlighting a gender imbalance that persists even in this alleged era of unprecedented progressiveness. That it is also hilarious throughout only helps lift the film to greater heights.