A lot of people are not keen on watching Korean movies. The language sounds weird the first time you hear, the style is something that you're not used to, but I'm very happy that I gave this movie a chance. It's a sincere and sweet romantic comedy and it's much better than a lot of movies in this style. The scenes and emotions are not pushed but feel natural. The acting from both leads in most scenes is really good. On top of that, it's a movie about dancing and the leads can dance well, they have good posture, etc. Their body types are correct for it, too. Especially the guy looked great as a dancer! You don't feel like they took two celebrities and just put them in shiny dancing clothes.

The part of Innocent Steps that deals with the developing love between professional dancer Young-Sae and innocent 19 year old immigrant Chae-rin succeeds brilliantly. There is nothing that is not entirely believable and touching about their love, from Young-Sae's initial rejection of Chae-rin, to his compassion for her when she is in danger of being forced into prostitution, to the gradual development of their relationship from being a sham marriage into becoming a real couple, and ending with their lyrical declarations of mutual love during their (separate) immigration interviews.The dance-competition-thwarted-by-malevolent-gangster portions of the movie suffer greatly by comparison. It's simply not believable that Chae-rin can go in only three months from being a complete novice to what is apparently the best female dancer in all of Korea. So much so that Young-Sae's chief rival goes to extraordinary lengths to not only break up the partnership but also steal Chae-rin for himself. That's quite an achievement for a 19 year old girl, who looks more like 12. I wasn't buying it. Even if I did, the plot twists guaranteed that there would be no triumphant performance for Young-Sae and Chae-rin in the national competition. Admittedly, having the underdog succeed against all odds is a sports movie cliché. I would have been receptive to a well thought out alternative, but in this case the alternative reads something like "The world is an evil place. Get used to it." What a disappointment.Fortunately the writers came to their senses soon enough to allow Young-Sae and Chae-rin a future together. Overall, Innocent Steps rates a five for a great love story mixed with an overly melodramatic plot.

****Tiny Spoiler, About the Beginning so TINY****A bit soapy if you know what I mean, which as an older experienced viewer means I love it! Watched several US/GB romances lately and they seem to have lost it completely! The it being the untenable to explain thing that makes a movie enjoyable. They try too hard to be hip and fresh, and you know what? THERE IS NO such thing. It's all been done, okay?The SK are doing well with sensitivity and yes it is a bit cliché how things happen, like the scene where the girl is terrified that the man will want her to sleep with him when all he wants is another chance at a comeback.You know what? cliché is good! We are all the same when it is said and done, and one generation after another, human nature IS THE SAME.Anyway, the humor is great! That is for older viewers. Most of the young and teens WILL NOT GET IT nor want to. Or hate subtitles or foreign film.7/10

Innocent Steps (international title) is a romantic Korean tale about a cute 19 year old girl (Mun Geun-yeong) from China on a dance contract. She is paid to practice and dance with her partner (Park Geon Hyeong) for the upcoming 'KDFA Cup Korea Dancesport Championship'. For the next three months, she trained hard for the competition. Love blossomed, of course. Being professional during the practices, they did not reveal their feelings to each other.A couple of twists happened and the last 30 minutes proved once again that Korean movies do not bow to mainstream stereotyped story lines or endings. It was a 30% bitter 70% sweet conclusion, not a Hollywood perfect fairy tale. Good flick to watch with your loved one.Mao points: 7/10