Good Enough
Korean Drama " Call It Love " is a melodrama with interesting cinematography and a story focusing on family bonds and an unconventional love story.The drama, first of all, has inspirational cinematography, with a pink filter for the real-time timeline, while using harsh lighting for the flashbacks with stretched frames. The mood of the drama is also enjoyable, atmospheric, and chill.
On the other hand, the story was quite intense, even though the drama presented it in a more relaxing tone. Therefore, and even though it was reaching its end, it felt like there should be more episodes, as the story didn't seem to have kicked in or reached its climax, when the emotions burst and the melodrama reaches its peak. Rather, it felt anticlimactic and rushed.
As for the performances, everyone did a good job with their characters.
So, overall, seven out of ten.
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This show made me buy a years worth Disney+ subscriptions, and I absolutely don’t regret it
Honestly I've kept my eyes on this show ever since Disney announced it their 2022 December promotional events in Singapore (the synopsis they gave back then made sure this show was going to be in my watclist)Not since last years' My Liberation Note I've see a slowburn k-drama done right until this dropped in Feb this year.
Please don't all consider it an overrating when I say that Dongjin has made it to top 4 in my list of Best-kdrama-men-ever list (you'll know why he has become such a favourite of mine, if you decided of watching the show)
The CINEMATOGRAPHY- This is best I've seen in any show in any language.. seriously its stellar... the framing and shots contribute to the chracters development and understanding the chracters feelings...it will be hard for other shows to top this level of intricacy..
The OSTs also were an achievements especially Roy Kim's Flower and Moon Song...
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Eccentric Emotional Rollercoaster ride In DARK
This drama is OOOZING with Emotional Spikes. [!!]It will stir you deep through your heart and make you feel the pain the character goes through.
The casts did justice to their roles. You can't see them act, they lived as the character.
You hate the character bcoz they manipulate your emotions, not because of the plot.
You would see darkest part of each character and you will eventually understand them. This drama best describes the true nature of human selfishness and people's feebleness.
lonely people can understand this drama much better.. it resonates with you
This drama deserves Major awards for the cast performance and the direction.
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its really interesting
this is only my first impression...this drama is really heavy it is so depressing to see the way FL lived such a miserable life and the cinematography is really pretty the plot is interesting too...but i just cant believe that she is going to date the mistress son like..???i feel really bad for the FL..tbh this drama feel like a hug..i really love the FL and ML acting and this drama is giving my mister...cant wait to see more of this....its going to be really interesting..pretty sure i wouldn't drop this drama midway
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This review may contain spoilers
i like it a lot
Just started this drama and I’m loving it so far. Although all the episodes aren’t out yet, I really enjoy the storyline, the slow pacing of the show and the characters.Both the FL and ML have complex personalities because of the shitty things that happened in the past and its affecting them now.
They both have trust & abandonment issues. The ML stemming from his mother and former lover, and the FL from her cheating father.
It would be interesting to watch how their characters further interact, develop and change.
I need more episodes PLS 😭😭😭😭😭
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Sooooooooooooooo slow
This drama is RIDICULOUSLYYYY slow. Like seriously. It's so freaking slow, I can't stand it. I somehow made it to the halfway point of episode 5 and I'm just struggling to even continue to watch this drama. I knew that it was slow from previous reviews but I thought I could handle it. Apparently not because I stopped to write this review and now I'm seriously contemplating dropping this drama. And I try my damn hardest to not drop a drama.These reviews are so positive about this drama and I heard the ending was the ending we didn't get for 2521 so I was excited to watch this but... this has been disappointing to say the least. Honestly debating between just dropping the drama or just continue watching the drama but in the fastest speed possible.
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Overall a very satisfying experinece
The Story:It is basically a melodrama about two star crossed lovers. Basically, Dong Jin's mother and Woo Joo's father had an affair. Woo Joo's father left his family and married Dong Jin's mother. Upon's his death, he left the family home to Dong Jin's mother resulting in Woo Joo wanting the house back. She wants to approach Dong Jin to get the house back but believes that he is selfish just like his mother and seeks revenge by joining his company.
The Good:
- The acting. Every actor is excellent in this drama and they truly make you feel for their character even the evil stepmother near the end. Most of time, they will portray their emotions through their body language and eyes. The way they would just look at each other is just so noteworthy. A lot of the time they communicate less through words and more through the body language cause both Woo Joo and Dong Jin are quiet people who are dealing with their own emotional issues . I cannot fault anyone's acting in this so a solid 10/10
- The overall atmosphere / tone: Most of the characters in this drama are going through some emotional trauma and it communicated very well through the overall colour grading, the way they walk, the way they react to happy / sad news, the way some of the shots are so still and the stillness of some scenes.
-Realistic portrayal: Now, not everything in this drama is portrayed realistically but most of the things that happen are pretty realistic. Ex: How people develop a relationship, how people fall in love, how families usually influence one's decisions in life, etc
-The character development: The way the characters develop, their relationships change and the way they react to things depending on their personality was very good. Also, a few of them learn life lessons and some give them depending on their experience.
- Forgiveness: One of the biggest takeaways from the this drama is how important it is to forgive someone so you can lead a more happy/ healthy life.
The Bad:
- The pacing: This is more of a character heavy drama rather than a plot heavy drama so the pacing of the drama varies depending on what the emotional state of the characters. The beginning is really slow cause you are being introduced to the characters and their situations. Once I made it through midway of the first episode, I pretty much binged through the 6 -7 episodes and then the drama was pretty much dragging with the indecision of the characters and how you were basically waiting for the bomb to drop. Then, it somewhat picked up pace again only to slow down again till the end. There are shots / scenes which are drawn longer than necessary. I sometimes found myself wanting to skip them cause it was just dragging the story
- The ex-girlfriend: I feel like she was just added to the story for more drama and nothing else. I did not like her character nor felt sympathy towards her. She could not have been in this story and it would have changed nothing. A good thing is that she did not get more screen time.
- The cliche evil stepmom: When this drama was going for some realism, they went for the evil stepmom and her evil sidekick. They are no redeeming qualities to her until near the end. In a drama where most characters are realistic, she with her sidekick just seemed to be so out of place. Her motivations are never shown/ given. She is just who she is and we are supposed to accept it. She never has a moment where she explains her actions.
- The ending: For a drama that loves to drag out certain scenes, they pretty much gave a very rushed ending in the very last 1 -2 minutes. I personally would have liked some sort of epilogue, conversation, or something solid. It is a satisfying ending but not a perfect ending. Considering all that happened, I just wanted a few more minutes to wrap everything up.
So, overall 8.5 / 10. Give this one a try if you like slow paced star crossed romance, characters going through emotional trauma and excellent acting from everyone.
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This drama is endearing
For once I really enjoyed following and watching a Korean drama. The story has nothing extraordinary and the characters are quite common but the actors are good and the direction is excellent. The scriptwriter had the intelligence to build a solid plot that does not evolve into unnecessarily complex events. But it is especially thanks to the direction that this series is of great quality. I have rarely seen a story so well filmed and edited. It was a real pleasure to watch some scenes. It happened several times to me to go back to see again certain sequences. Everything is excellent: the choice of shots, the lighting, the way of filming the places and the characters, the editing, etc.We too often forget that a story, however good it may be on paper, will never make a good movie without a solid direction.
I have two criticisms to make. First of all, the music. It is sometimes too present and seems to underline too strongly the emotions of the characters. The other negative point concerns some lengths and some sequences are not really useful to the story. The last episode has a too predictable content. It was not necessary. This drama would be much better in 12 episodes.
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Unreasonably slow
I actually really liked the start of the show. It was nice cute and i kinda knew that this is not gonna be some hot romance. It would be ok to me if the show was slow but this is just unreasonable. Even after characters get to each other and grow close together the still talk so weirdly and soooo slooooooow. This makes all the dialogs feel extremely unnatural and dragging. Do you really need to put some deep almost phylosophical meaning into every single sentence you say to your loved ones? Idk it just didnt feel real and that was bothering me so much.And its so annoying because first few episodes were sooo good! Why is that it so often feels like korean screenwriters wrote first few episodes and cooked the rest on the fly? Why is it that the show is awesome at the start and mediocre at best in the end? Its so annoying.
What i liked on this show was development of FL. She is such a good actress and if she didnt have to go trhough such bad dialogues in the end it would bo soo good.
Idk such a wasted potential
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Only watched it for KYK
So dreamy, KYK. I only watched the drama to watch him. Kdrama fixation.Don't care if he emotes two dimensionally or whatever else people are complaining about. Just happy to see him glide by and watch that face!
The FL was also lovely and the rest of the cast was the good, underplayed k drama actors who are actually the unsung pillars.
I must commend that lady who plays the wicked mother.
Did not check what her actual name and age is, but she is gorgeous.
Not sure how she ended up consistently playing a philandering wicked mother - have seen her in atleast 3 dramas doing the same wicked stuff.
But she has the courage to continually play the terribly villainous mother and excels in her negative craft.
This drama needed a lot more intimacy because the slow burn is fiery but ends with cold water.
There was ample room for it but it was wasted with just despair longing.
Needs a serious fix.
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Too pink
I don't normally review dramas that I've dropped but I had to mention the pink filter. The PD explained that it's supposed to be like the sunset at the end of a tiring day or the sunrise full of hope which is a lovely sentiment but the execution is poor. Every scene has an overlay of cotton candy pink that is incredibly distracting. It doesn't help that some scenes are over lit with harsh shadows. Yes there are some gorgeous shot compositions but it's ruined by the miasma of pink. That plus some implausibilities in the story made me give up.Was this review helpful to you?
