Marriage Contract (2016) poster
8.0
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 8.0/10 from 11,333 users
# of Watchers: 24,022
Reviews: 46 users
Ranked #2275
Popularity #602
Watchers 11,333

After being diagnosed with a possibly terminal brain tumor, Kang Hye Soo, a desperate single mother, agrees to be a liver donor for her new boss’ mother. In exchange, she will receive a significant sum of money that she hopes to leave to her daughter. In order to pass the screening process, they must legally wed and convince the hospital that they’ve been in a long-term relationship. What they foolishly thought would be a quiet transaction between the two of them, quickly becomes more complicated as more people get involved, including her 7-year-old daughter. Money isn’t the only thing required for happiness, and love makes life worth living. Edit Translation

  • English
  • Arabic
  • Русский
  • Română
  • Country: South Korea
  • Type: Drama
  • Episodes: 16
  • Aired: Mar 5, 2016 - Apr 24, 2016
  • Aired On: Saturday, Sunday
  • Original Network: MBC
  • Duration: 1 hr. 15 min.
  • Score: 8.0 (scored by 11,333 users)
  • Ranked: #2275
  • Popularity: #602
  • Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older

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Marriage Contract (2016) photo
Marriage Contract (2016) photo
Marriage Contract (2016) photo
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Reviews

Completed
Charming92
113 people found this review helpful
Apr 24, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 9
Overall 9.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
Romance, in kdramaland, is usually cheesy, deficient at times and often highly corny. I think it is safe to say that when you’ve watched a-few-too-many romance kdramas they tend to become repetitive as they all follow certain rules by the book. And when you think you’re done with the genre, Marriage Contract happens, and makes you completely revise all your thoughts and beliefs. It is not that MC broke any rules or reinvented the genre. MC actually followed all the clichés and yet managed to come out so refreshing and stimulating against all odds, and that is why Marriage Contract is a must watch.

STORY
Marriage contract is your average, predictable and cliché kdrama. We get our over-used closed and shut-down, borderline rude and arrogant rich, chaebol male lead; the younger, naïve, kind-hearted and poor girl and we see their love story develop through a very foreseeable melo plot-story. However, even if you feel you can predict everything from the first episode, MC manages to pull you in with its incredible and unique feel of raw-ness.

The characters are ordinary, and yet they are so original. The male lead is overly rough and mean on the outside, but with such a marshmallow core that makes him completely loveable from the first moment; the female lead is your average girl in need, but she is a fighter and you will root for her and her wonderful personality to be happy. Characterization and character development are commendable and one of the main reasons i would recommend this.

The drama is packed with small, simple moments of everyday life that superficially are skippable, but they ultimately make the drama what it really is. Small moments, like hugging a friend, trimming your hair, talking to your kid, playing with pets; moments that are insignificant in dramas, but mean so much for a person in real life, because they express happiness and sadness; life’s core traits. THIS is what this show is, and this is where it is unique, this is where it is extraordinary and this is where it exceeds expectations and becomes an amazing show.

Basically, what exactly is Marriage Contract? MC Is a story about how family can completely destroy you as a person, destroy your life, destroy your dreams, destroy your hopes, destroy everything you love. It depicts perfectly the bittersweet/love-hate feelings someone can have towards their family, and how these problems can be confronted. Opening up to a special someone is the key to being happy. Letting go, forgiving yourself and others, and ultimately loving and sharing your life with someone else; and when you've found that someone, live in the moment, don't spend your time restlessly thinking about the future. Be happy, in the moment!

The background of the drama is the very dysfunctional family of the male lead who desperately tries to find an organ donor for his sick and troubled mother. This is where the female lead comes into the picture, hence the marriage contract. See? Super simple, super predictable almost enough for someone to skip/drop this. And yet…. the drama is exquisite, in many ways it reminded me of It’s Ok, That’s Love.

Lastly, I would like to talk to you about the chemistry here, because it is probably the best thing this drama has to offer. I think i can safely say that real chemistry between the leads is rare in kdramas. Some people can ship any pretty faced actors together, I can’t. I need sparks; I need them to prove to me that they are worth my tears, my time and my frustration! Lee Seo Jin and Uee not only had sizzling and magnificent chemistry, not only they looked phenomenal together, not only each of their moments was heart-wrenching and mind-blowing, but they re-invented the term 'on screen chemistry' for me since they managed to actually seem like a family.

What’s more, the most astonishing thing of them all, the kid actress Shin Rin Ah managed to develop such an amazing chemistry not only with Uee (mother-daughter relationship), but with Lee Seo Jin as well (father-daughter relationship). The three of them looked so unrealistically wonderful together they will destroy and revive your feelings over and over again. One of the best overall on-set chemistries I’ve ever seen.

This drama is arguably a masterpiece, not because of an innovative plot or anything like it, but because of its raw simplicity and flawless chemistry.

ACTING
I’ll be frank. I’m tired of people hating Uee’s acting. I am not completely familiar with her previous projects, I’ve watched bits and pieces of them, but she certainly gave the performance of her life here, and I pity people who couldn’t see that! She is an actress who is improving, and she should be praised for this. She puts effort in her acting, she cares! She was impeccable, exquisite and luscious in every way here, there wasn’t a single moment where I didn’t feel what she was feeling, amazing facial expressions, great body expressions, very emotional crying, really mature deliverance by Uee overall. People, who disagree, apparently need someone to hate, please hate yourselves and leave Uee alone!

As far as Lee Seo Jin is concerned, for one, he was so hot, manly and handsome I was taken by surprise. Secondly he managed pull off brilliantly, a pretty complicated character, who could have been easily hated. He delivered a great and sensuous performance; he made his character understandable from the very beginning - he apparently took the time to actually understand his character before taking the role. What I’d like to especially mention is his terrific deliverance on the emotion of happiness. His character was largely depressed, the worst kind of depression; the kind, that is not visible and seem ok on the surface. Happiness is a funny thing, everyone can imitate and say they are happy but which of us actually are? Lee Seo Jin send shivers down my spine, specific moments made, not only his character feel more raw and real, but also it enhanced the whole point of the show and helped the drama have more impact.

Lastly, I feel the need to congratulate the kid actress Shin Rih Na, she is deadly talented, best kid actor I’ve seen thus far. Her role here, wasn’t just to be cute, her role was essential for the drama to make sense and she was exquisite in it. She has a bright future in this industry. These 3 should act together in the future again!

RECOMMEND/REWATCH
This is a melo-romance. People who like melodramas, you’ll like it, it is not overly sentimental (although it does get increasingly depressing), people who like rom-coms, this might be too much for you, but since I know you love a good romance, this is recommended. This kind of chemistry should not be missed or ignored! I will definitely rewatch this at some point!

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Completed
manicmuse
18 people found this review helpful
May 7, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 10
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
Marriage Contract is a drama that I can see why people gave it high reviews, but I just can't do the same. Don't let the classic romcom marriage contract between a rich chaebol and a broke girl plot fool you, this is a bonafide tearjerker. Did this drama make me cry and cry again? Absolutely, because the main cast is amazing. What's my problem with Marriage Contract then? Well, read the title and the synopsis and you basically know everything about this drama. Yup, That's it for all 16 episodes. The story is so basic that this drama is definitely saved by the acting!

Uee and Lee Seo Jin took super cliché characters and made them feel real. I'm not a Uee fan, but I was super impressed. Her character goes through so much, and she nailed every moment. I think she's missing some of the charm that other actresses have, so she often comes across as too cold for me (even when she's being sweet), but she gave a very believable performance. Lee Seo Jin gave a great performance too, that proved he's more than just dimples. My only complaint is that some of his really big smiles looked more creepy than genuine. His tears however were extra heartbreaking. Watching their bittersweet relationship is the heart of this drama, and why it worked at all for me.

I admit that in the beginning I didn't like any of the characters. For the first few episodes no one was likable, not even the cute kid. Uee was the most sympathetic in the beginning, but she was also so pathetic that I was frustrated watching her. Then, around episode 4, things finally started to shift for me. Suddenly I was binge watching, barely able to stop myself from watching what happened next. Han Ji Hoon became more charming, Kang Hye Soo became more admirable, and their chemistry started to develop into something engaging. Shin Rin Ah as Eun Sung was also such a strong character that I think she deserves a main character status. She gave a performance that showed she was just as talented as her adult cast members. If she's that good now, I can only imagine how good she can be in the future,

The rest of the supporting cast was excellent as well, even really minor characters, except for one. Kim Young Pil was really bad, like REALLY bad. I almost removed a whole acting point for how bad he was. I'm not sure it was all his fault, because the character was written as being petty and ridiculous, but he just seemed too over the top and fake evil, even for a melodrama. Honestly, all of the characters are pretty one note, and don't have much depth, but the actors managed to insert depth into their performances. Like bad dad Kim Yong Gun, who was text book evil, but he was such a believably unbelievable character who's outrageous actions cured a lot of my boredom with the rest of the plot.

I think the writer is the problem for me. The plot is predictable, it's full of everything you've already seen in a drama. So many of the female characters seemed to be irrationally obsessed with men (husbands, exes, sons) that I often had a hard time empathizing with them. Some of the episodes felt repetitive. There were about five episodes where the literal plot was cry, plan to divorce, cry again. Some other episodes rely heavily on flashbacks, which was annoying. I became invested in the characters and their relationships, so I could never bring myself to stop watching, but I definitely had to push my way through to the end. It did pick up momentum again in the last episodes, and I did like the ending (though it was nothing original), but I just didn't fall in love with this drama the way others did.

This is similar to the problems I had with "Secret", which has the same writer. Weak characters, a predictable plot, skippable scenes, a pathetic lead character always in tears, dragging episodes...

I did like the direction, the same guy who directed "Kill Me, Heal Me". That, and the cast may be what made me like this drama much more than "Secret". My one complaint is that the blatant product placements were pretty hilarious.

I thought the music was not great either. Some of the music chosen seemed so out of place. I did appreciate that Ji Hoon's ringtone was mo' better blues, which gave some insight in how important music was to the character. Too bad they never incorporated a real musical storyline in the actual script.
That could have helped me understand why he struggled so much to join the company.

Would I watch this again? Only if I am feeling apathetic and want to cry my eyes out to prove I still have feelings.

Overall, I would only recommend this drama to fans of super sad melodramas like "49 Days" (which had too much cloud of impending doom for me), "Scent of a Woman" (which I loved, and had similar themes), or "Secret" (which proved to me I do have a melodrama limit). Romance fans will be able to appreciate the love story, and some of the family themes are heart warming, but this is a drama you have to buy a jumbo tissue box for and then just embrace the chronic eye wetness.

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Details

  • Drama: Marriage Contract
  • Country: South Korea
  • Episodes: 16
  • Aired: Mar 5, 2016 - Apr 24, 2016
  • Aired On: Saturday, Sunday
  • Original Network: MBC
  • Duration: 1 hr. 15 min.
  • Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older

Statistics

  • Score: 8.0 (scored by 11,333 users)
  • Ranked: #2275
  • Popularity: #602
  • Watchers: 24,022

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