Soo-ah is a withdrawn 13 year old girl that walks through life, counting each step to herself. Her widowed mother spends most of her energy running a small restaurant. Soo-ah holds contempt against her mother and doesn’t approve of her mother’s love interest, a good natured guy that owns a scrapyard. Soo-ah also believes that her real mother is the famous Korean pop singer, Yoon Sur-Young.

As Soo-ah begins junior-high she also has to deal with school bullies and making new friends. She becomes more withdrawn, as she keeps daydreaming about her “real” mother, Yoon Sur-Young. Soo-ah finally decides to buy a ticket to Seoul to meet her real mom.

While vacationing in Korea this past spring, I sadly missed watching “The Wonder Years” on the bigscreen. As it is the case for most Korean films the movie poster gave off a false generic comedy feel to the movie, so I didn’t watch it on first opportunity. I regretted that decision because after only a few more days the movie was already finished playing in the theaters (less than a week!). The cinemas by this time were overtaken by multiple showings of Ocean 13 and Shrek 3. Luckily the DVD was released a short 6 weeks after its theatrical run.

When I did finally watch the movie, I knew from the opening scenes that I would enjoy “The Wonder Years”. The filmed opened up with grainy, over-saturated digital film shots of a young girl roller blading for the first time, accompanied by minimal circus like electronic music (always think of it as Sympathy For Lady Vengeance music). The film then cut to a scene of the same girl walking down a shabby neighborhood road, counting each of her step to herself.

From there the movie drew me in more by the aloof mannerisms of Soo-Ah and the people in her life. There’s the local street vendor lady that’s awfully nice to her (you’ll figure out why later), her mother that didn’t come to her middle school graduation because of her restaurant and the man still sitting in the restaurant with her mother. The movie then opened up Soo-Ah’s life and revealed the turbulent times that she would have to go through, all flavored from the vantage point of small town life in South Korea.

The scenes of Soo-Ah making friends with two different girls, one from the richer part of town and one from the poorer area, was done just right. Those scenes will likely strike a chord with most viewers, bringing back memories of the awkward stage when friendships first occur. The movie then brought up the dilemma of who actually was Soo-Ah’s mother. At first I dismissed the notion that Soo-Ah’s mother could have been Yoon Sur-Young, a famous K-Pop singer (played by actual pop singer Kim Yoon Ah of Juarim fame). Soo-Ah often made up stories and the notion of her real mother being a pop star must have been one of those stories..right? Well not exactly. Soo-ah then read her father’s old diary, which recounted the days when her father carried Soo-ah on his back while waiting for her mother…Yoon Sur-Young. All of a sudden you realize that Soo-ah may not have been as kooky as you once thought and there well could be truth to her unusual assertion. Things all come to a crescendo when Soo-ah makes a trip out to Seoul to meet Yoon Sur-Young.

While Se-yeong Lee isn’t a newcomer to acting, having previously performed in comedies “My Lovely Rivals” and “When I Turned Nine,” she did appear to have turned a new leaf in her young acting career. Her performance as Soo-ah was nuanced and absolutely compelling. Often just a shy smile or a quizzical looked expressed the depth of emotions that would pass through her mind.

“The Wonder Years” also marks the directorial debut by talented newcomer Hee-Jung Kim. It seems she has already built an impressive resume, having graduated from the Polish National Film School in Lodz and becoming the first Korean to win support from Cannes Residence Program. What Hee-Jung Kim did so well in “The Wonder Years” is embellish in the small details of life that people can take for granted.

A few small complaints with “The Wonder Years” would have been a handful of musical dream sequences that didn’t work well and an ending that could have been shortened by five minutes. Also, some of the more dramatic scenes in the film didn’t reverberate in the same manner as the quieter scenes. The film did deftly portray the ordeals of adolescence told through the perspective of an insecure and withdrawn young girl. “The Wonder Years” will likely bring back childhood memories for older viewers and easily identifiable dilemmas that younger viewers face on a daily basis. If you’re disenchanted by this summer’s batch of CGI enhanced blockbusters without much heart, than give “The Wonder Years” a try. This one oozes out heart.