The review:
If you are looking for a gentle ensemble comedy with a lot of laughs, look no further than Kim’s Convenience.* The convenience store owned by the Kim Family (parents Appa & Umma,** with their grown children Jung and Janet***) provides a steady series of memorable situations and characters. The Kim family is partially estranged—father and son haven’t talked in years due to Jung’s delinquent adolescent choices—but there are still a lot of laughs to be had as the Kim family goes through life’s ordinary trials.****
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home with Matt, who heard about it on Feminist Frequency
Consider also watching:
- Corner Gas
- Anne with an E (for more Canadian “sorry”‘s)
Further sentences:
*It also has the charm of being set in Toronto, which means when characters are issuing apoligies, you get to hear that charming Canadian closed-mouth prounciation: “soory”.
**I know this is Korean for father and mother, but IMDB doesn’t list the parents’ names.
***There’s a great supporting cast too: Jung’s friend Kimchee; Jung’s boss Shannon, who is delightfully awkward in her trying to project that she’s hard-working, while barely hiding her crush on Jung; Janet’s friend Gerald, who is a pushover; the too-familar Mr. Mehta; and the ever suffering Pastor Nina.
****Most of the humor comes from normal situations such as trying to prove who is the better photographer, and a goodly number of complexities arising from situations at church.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The interior set of the titular location is an exact replica of a real downtown Toronto corner store, Mimi Variety.
Simu Liu is going to be the star of a Marvel movie!
Yes, it’s very exciting!