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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Park Min-young, Joo Jong-hyuk, Park Hee-soon
Latest Nielsen rating: 1.5 per cent
Marry My Husband star Park Min-young leads a group of smirking hustlers in Confidence Queen, a lively but often too-eager-to-please caper comedy screening globally on Prime Video.
A Korean remake of the 2018 Japanese drama The Confidence Man JP, the series follows the rambunctious exploits of the “Confidence Man” team headed by ringleader Yoon Yi-rang (Park).


Her cohorts are Myung Gu-ho, played by rising star Joo Jong-hyuk – also on screens in Tempest this month – and James, portrayed by Park Hee-soon, who graced the Venice Film Festival a few weeks ago in Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed new film No Other Choice.
With a wink and a smile and plenty of tricks up their sleeves, this trio stages elaborate plots to swindle their targets, all of whom are nefarious figures in need of comeuppance. The rotating roster of villains provides opportunities for familiar faces to drop in for colourful cameos.
First up for the show’s curtain raiser is Song Ji-hyo (The Witch’s Diner) as shaman Baek-hwa, who takes advantage of desperate clients – such as a poor mother worried about her daughter’s grades – and swindles them out of their life savings.
In her off hours, her vice is gambling, which becomes her downfall when she steps into a gambling den with her latest ill-gotten gains.

Yi-rang runs the establishment and lures Baek-hwa in by making her believe that one of the employees – James – is in her pocket and feeding her information to win.
The truth is that the casino is fake, with a roster of extras hired to trick Baek-hwa. Yi-rang lets the shaman win as she steadily raises the stakes, until it is time to strike.
This is a simple hustle, but Confidence Queen seeks to entertain its audience by being brash and over the top.
The ruse culminates in a police raid during which several people die. Baek-hwa escapes with her big bag of money, only to discover that it has been switched with one filled with useless talismans – a nod to the useless ones she has been selling for exorbitant sums.

This is only a taste of things to come, as bigger prey warrant bigger schemes – but elaborateness comes at the expense of logic.
Following the casino con, the trio head to Yi-rang’s ostentatious mansion, where they sip on fine wines delivered straight from her winery in France, and enjoy the spoils of their victory.
While distasteful, the show makes it clear that the group only targets villains and uses (some of) the reclaimed money to restitute the victims or fund charitable pursuits.
But is this enough to give them a pass for their crass behaviour? That depends on who is watching.
The actions and behaviour of the Confidence Man group place them somewhere between the blithely protagonists of modern classics such as The Thieves and the wily vigilantes of more recent hits like Vincenzo and Taxi Driver.

Alas, it is not a balancing act that works. Yi-rang’s arrogance and materialism are misaligned with her supposedly pure intentions, striking an odious note.
The show might have worked better if the trio were more clearly ambiguous, although that would not have been enough to remedy the series’ other problems.
While Park Min-young is no stranger to comedy, seldom has she hammed it up as much as she does here. She gleefully flounces around as she plays different characters to snare her targets.
The trouble is, Yi-rang herself is little more than a caricature, which leaves the show lacking an anchor.

The closest thing to a moral centre is Gu-ho, who quits the gang after the opening set piece without taking his share of the money. Yi-rang and James do not seem too concerned, as it is not the first time he has left: he always comes back.
And return he does, after James is hospitalised during the gang’s next operation, against a devious corporate chairman.
Yi-rang has a big plan to take him down, and Gu-ho joins her but is not privy to all the details. Only later does he find out that he was tricked into returning.
With silly schemes and ruses flying in every direction, Confidence Queen has so far not inspired much confidence.
Confidence Queen is streaming on Prime Video.


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Park Min-young, Joo Jong-hyuk and Park Hee-soon play con artists who scam villains, but absurd schemes and hammy acting mar the show’s start


Park Min-young, Joo Jong-hyuk and Park Hee-soon play con artists who scam villains, but absurd schemes and hammy acting mar the show’s start.


Prime Video K-drama Confidence Queen: Park Min-young flounces around in silly scam drama

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Park Min-young, Joo Jong-hyuk and Park Hee-soon play con artists who scam villains, but absurd schemes and hammy acting mar the show’s start

Park Min-young, Joo Jong-hyuk and Park Hee-soon play con artists who scam villains, but absurd schemes and hammy acting mar the show’s start