Simply hilarious especially the first 5 mins of each episode which sets the mood for the show.
The casting of Kim Ha-Neul as a pretty female klutz will totally captured the hearts the fans of this show where her total abandonment of image and cute expressions that is inappropriate for her age brings youth and synergy to the storyline.
The light hearted romance with Jang Dong Gun left me wanting for more
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The story is really good. It's original, and even though the main leads are already grown up, first, they're really cool, and most of the time I didn't even notice it because they really act like they're in their twenties (very funny by the way).
There are some sad parts, like in every drama, but most of the time it's cute, lovely or funny.
I didn't know most of the actors (apart from Jong Hyun), but I'm really glad I discovered them, because they act very well.
Now the music. The music in a drama is really important in my opinion, and I wasn't disappointed here either. Every couple and every feeling has its own theme (which we can really associate with the emotion they're feeling). I also had a lot of fun when Yi Soo (Kim Ha Neul) started singing Cn Blue's song Intuition. And I also recognized other songs (like Juniel's Illa Illa). I mean, song that where released this year, so it was pretty cool, because it felt more real.
I also never got bored, so it shows really well that it's a good drama (we all know, I guess, that sometimes in a drama the story gets really long and you just want to enter the show and tell them what to do don't you ?)
I can't believe I gave a 10 for every man. But I had to because I have nothing bad to say ! (and I felt bad for putting something else. I mean, it's really, really good! And I'll rewatch it with pleasure).
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A Gentleman's Dignity is by far the best drama I've watched.
Ever.
No fancy CG, no time traveling, no flashy actors (because we've all watched dramas JUST for the actors. Well, I bet some BOICE were watching this for Jonghyun. But that's besides the point), no annoying mothers or jealous & bratty girls in the way. (Well, I mean there's a little bit, but it's not like it drives the whole drama unlike some OTHER dramas...)
The storyline is very original. Instead of being completely centered around young people in their 20s or little children with some family trauma, this focused mainly on people who are older, but not necessarily wiser than youths. Although some of the arguments that took place at the beginning of the drama were seldom redundant/just plain annoying, it taught me about love in many different aspects/point of views. First loves, one-sided love, unstable relationships, and hesitant romances; You get all of those and more rolled into one drama. As a bonus, I found myself laughing and crying while watching each episode. (Though I swear I didn't cry as much as Im Meahri LOL). Some parts of the storyline are predictable, but a majority had me at the edge of my seat, screaming, "WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!" And boy, do I enjoy a good plot twist or twenty. And kudos to the writers, they sure know what we want in terms in romance. I wanted to push DoJin down a flight of stairs for being so romantic. The best thing about this drama? Probably the intro scenes. They set the mood and are just hilarious.
As for the cast, A+. Dong Gun's acting was superb. One moment, he's a chic, cool man who knows how to playoff difficult situations. In the next, he's this aegyo fueled dork that makes me want to cry because he's so adorable. His facial expressions were enough to set the mood of the scene, whether it be serious of playful. As for HaNeul, the way she portrayed her character was excellent. Although some of her scenes made me cringe, this woman knows how to act as a girl who's confused about her love life. Most actresses who try usually come off as fake or weak to me, but HaNeul acted in a more realistic sense. MinJong, SooRo, and Jonghyuk, I applaud to you. They played their roles well (although in SooRo's serious situations, he made the FUNNIEST faces, and just made me burst out laughing instead of sympathize), and they had amazing chemistry with each other as well as their "partners." Despite SeRa's character being such a bother in the beginning, I believe it helped get the chemistry going between the main couple, so I'm grateful for that, and so SeAh deserves a cookie or two for playing such a role. I mean, even though it's a typical role, it's never easy to play the angry best friend. I absolutely LOVED JungNan's character & acting. At one point, it just wanted to give her a hug and tell her to just let it out. When it came to, I just say there and whispered, "She's broken. You broke her," and kind of felt extremely depressed. Now JinYi.... goodness, a lot of people hated on her. But guys, she didn't write the script. She didn't decide that she would be SUCH a crybaby. So despite her bothersome role, she deserves a pat on the back for getting those tears to flow so well. Now for the younger "kids." Ugh WooBin is such a cutie. But seriously, he acted his role well as the strong but sensitive kid. And Jonghyun, for a debut actor, not bad. I mean sure, you're a sarcastic jerk with a gorgeous smile and voice, and omg when he speaks Japanese I swoon every time. His aura is consistent, but sometimes his emotions don't reflect well with the situation (don't hate me, I'm a BOICE guys ;A;)
There's great variety in the music and the background music suits the scenarios well. I could go more in depth about this, but let's just say I've downloaded every song and this is most likely on my top 5 favorite drama OSTs. It's a mix of indie, english, ballad, and k-pop (Juniel is now considered k-pop, right?)
Seriously, I NEVER, EVER rewatch dramas, not matter how much I love the drama. But I would consider rewatching this. Why? Because it moved me. It made me laugh, cry, sympathize, but more importantly, made me question how my own life is. The only reason I rated it down a bit is because I would skip over some of the BFF drama. (Because I have enough of that in real life orz)
To sum it up, this drama is realistic. It's romantic. It's touching. It's hilarious. It's filled with lessons that are worth taking away and can be applied to my own life. Not to mention that despite those men being in their 40s, they are quite the attractive and charismatic bunch. And guess what? THE ENDING DOESN'T DISAPPOINT. AT ALL. Not that I was expecting it be a BIG disappointment (did you see what I did there?)
So if you're still reading this review and are hesitating about this drama, WATCH IT. LIKE RIGHT NOW.
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A Gentleman's Dignity is a realistic story about four men in their forties and four women of various ages. The themes discussed on the show were mature, truthful, and the pace was nice. It didn't have one moment that I hated or fastforwarded. There was no irrational love triangle nor annoying secondary characters. Each one of the males and the females was given importance and you came to symphatize with their story. Ah, to have more dramas like this. I could not erase anybody from this drama because they were like the pieces of a puzzle, they completed each other. And each one of them had their own funny personality; I laughed a lot while watching this. Each matter was treated with the due attention without delaying too much or drag the story like many other shows do. When an issue came up, the writer was quick to resolve it in a mature and smart way. So compliments to her!
The cast was amazing. I said I don't check out dramas with senior actors if I don't know them beforehand (I prefer <40 actors). The cast completely surprised me and I think every one of them was fit for their part. I can't see others play their parts. Each couple had chemistry, even Im Meahri and Yoon despite the age gap of the two actors.
The music was enjoyable. Each couple had their own "theme song" that fit their journey towards the end.
Overall, it was a very good kdrama to watch. If you are looking for something smart, calm, funny, mature, this drama is for you. You won't regret watching 20 episodes! ^^
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-The two main couples had a very great chemistry! They will make your heart beats faster!
-The story is excellent!
-No villains at all or whatever irritable to the highest level antagonists!
-The drama tells you that the story is what happens in real life for most of the people today!
-You'll always be excited in what will happen in every episode! NO BORING/DULL MOMENTS!!!
-One of the best!!!!!!!!!!!
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The story- it's quite atypical for me because the cast is all 40'S something but the story itself is funny and romantic. Deals with the romance of middle age man and woman with a funny dialogue especially with kim ha neul and jang dong gun.
The cast- jang dong gun is daebak in this drama, I really didn't know him before this drama but now I'm one of his fangirls^^. Kim ha neul delivered the role really well and maeh ri(forgot her real name) is adorable coz she will do anything to get a mans love.
You should definitely watch this if you want some light-hearted romantic comedy.
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Overall i liked some part of it, for example the dinamic between the 4 men and in particular the cheating husband/rich wife couple, i think their relashionship is the more interesting.
It has some fun parts but i couldn't enjoy them because some characters were really annoying: the main protagonist is a very immature woman of 35 years old, and the young sister, even if ha 24 years old, is so immature and annoying that i skipped almost every part with her.
The plot is really slow in my opinion, and some subplot were useless: everything happened as I expected, that's why I skipped a lot of parts.
The 4 main male actors and the rich wife acting was good, but the main female protagonist was really bad, in my opinion: i don't know if it was because of the character that was given her or because she acts withour any expression in her face, but i didn't like it.
I started this drama thinking that it would have dealt with serious or more mature problem/relashionships, but other than the age and the fact that the protagonist had a past, i think that the topics and the plot in general wasn't really mature. Some reactions in certain circumstances weren't intelligent and thought out: I know that this drama centers on this 4 immature men that have to grow up and stop avoiding situations, but even the other characters weren't mature or likeable.
I didn't particularly like the music, it wasn't my cup of tea.
So overall I waas very bored, I finished it just because I wanted to give it a chance but it was really difficult!
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This review may contain spoilers
Where to begin? There were so many things I loved about this drama! I'll try to keep this review brief, but please bear with me if it gets a bit long. Be aware also that minor spoilers may be contained herein, but don't worry no major plot points will be ruined. A Gentleman's Dignity was an absolute treat to watch!
The mature, adult feel of it was very appealing. I get so tired of all these teeny-boppy tv shows or those dramas in which adults behave like high schoolers. ADG was a refreshing change of pace. It dealt with adult themes in an adult world. The players acted and responded to their circumstances according to their age without resorting, for the most part, to childish theatrics.
While a bit too metrosexual for my taste, the four male leads had wonderful chemistry and played exceptionally well off each other. It was fun to watch their often humourous banter and shenanigans. I loved that they all had unique personalities that set them a part from each other.
I loved the hero's charming, debonair persona. I LOVED how he loved the heroine, from day one. The WAY he went about sweeping her off her feet ... awww. Heart-melting! When it comes to the female leads, my favourite was Se Ra. It was really good to see her develop and grow into a better person. Lead actress Kim Ha Neul's acting wasn't to my taste. It's not that she did a poor job, I just didn't connect with her style. Her character was a bit annoying at times too, though with good reason.
All the ladies portrayed a good balance of independence, strength, vulnerability and self-sufficiency. Sometimes all the hysterical crying -- typical in most K-dramas -- got on my nerves, especially Meahri's, but they were all likable and well-matched to their respective male partner.
I loved that all the lead characters in this show were not cardboard characters. They were well crafted with clearly defined personality positives and negatives. The heroine dealt with some serious emotional baggage which many people will be able to relate to. When I found myself becoming annoyed with her I'm reminded that there's a good reason she behaves the way she does. This lent a certain sense of authenticity to the character.
I don't typically take notice of music in TV dramas or films unless it's truly outstanding. The music in AGD was pretty good. Big Baby Driver provided some beautiful, evocative vocals which enhanced the production value of the show. She has now gained a new follower and I'm pretty sure I'm going to use her music in one or more of my own films.
Yes, AGD was pretty great, but not entirely without fault. As good as most of the story was this drama was just as frustratingly formulaic as all other K-drama. I predicted the unfolding and or the outcome of many scenes long before it happened.
There were a lot of the episodes that felt draggy to me, and some story arcs I wish the writers hadn't pursued. Moreover, I did not care for the small prologues attached to each new episode. While humourous and insightful about how the men became friends I felt they stood in the way of the story taking place in present time. A lot of these scenes, for me, were skipped and I didn't feel like I missed anything.
My biggest, and perhaps only, major complaint about South Korean cinema is how they deal with sex and intimacy between adults on screen. I've yet to see the k-drama in which this is dealt with in a natural, believable, mature fashion.
In most K-dramas I've seen sex/intimacy is the huge pink elephant in the room. Normally it is neither acknowledged nor explored in a way that makes sense. As a working filmmaker, I don't understand why this has to be the case because you can create believable physical intimacy between the actors without them getting naked. It's frustrating to me that the actors must resort to childish antics OR the writers use formulaic tactics like having the phone ring or someone walking in to avoid the issue. To not portray that intimacy when the story calls for it makes otherwise great dramas disappointing for me. Maybe because I'm an artistic purist who believes acting should be naturalistic and not constructed.
With regards to a A Gentleman's Dignity, the lack of intimacy was an issue, but at the same time I have to applaud the makers for not completely shirking the issue. There were some sexual references and the kissing scenes, though few and far between, were pretty good. No brushing of lips here. I especially loved the nightclub kissing scene. Not only did I like seeing the woman take the initiative for once, the ensuing tonsil hockey was off the charts, get-a-room HOT! But way too short .... grrrr! :)
Overall this was an enjoyable drama that dealt with recurring themes of friendship, unrequited love, doing the right thing, getting old and second chances. Great storytelling alongside wonderful performances equals awesome entertainment. There were very few dull moments and there wasn't a character I didn't like.
The ending was great! All the hopeless romantics like myself can rejoice! It will fill your heart and make you smile at the wonder of love.
Will I ever rewatch A Gentleman's Dignity? You betcha!
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The story is very mature with its content, but the predicaments they get into are kept at a minimum . The problems that these characters face are pretty common and I’m sure anyone can relate to any one of the characters. I love the friendships especially with the main male actors. Even the side characters in this drama add to the main storyline. So many times the side characters distract or are meaningless to the story. The characters are consistent in their actions and the story flows smoothly. At the beginning of every episode there is a usually comedic interaction between the main male characters. The only drawback is that when they play flashbacks to their former selves ; they aren’t younger. If you look past that and just enjoy how funny it is, then it is all good. The ending is stellar and everything is wrapped up in a pleasant package.
The acting is really good too. I know the male leads are not typical. Their ages range from 38 to 42. It may just be because I’m older, but I found them more attractive than some of the younger actors these days. It isn’t necessarily because of their looks although I do find them physically attractive also, but because of their developed acting ability. The women were also very appealing for both reasons. There are many characters in this drama, but the ones that stood out for me are Jang Dong Gun as Do Jin and Kim Jung Nan as Min Sook. They weren’t a couple in this drama, but I think they have the complete package as actors. Don’t get me wrong; the other actors are good too. There are great cameo appearances by Sooyoung from Girls Generation, Singer/actor Jung Yong Hwa from CN Blue and Kim Kwang Gyu who has been in a lot of dramas. For the younger people, Lee Jong Hyun from CN Blue acts as Colin and Kim Woo Bin is also in this drama. They play minor but important roles to the main story. Especially Colin.
The music is awesome. If you get the chance, then you should totally check it out and add it to your playlists even if you don’t watch the drama. Seriously!!!
Overall I would say this is a must see drama for all those that enjoy romantic comedies. I loved and will eventually rewatch it.
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The only reason I was intrigued by this drama was because it stars Kim Ha Neul and Kim Soo Ro. Okay, that aside, I was hoping it wouldn't be a flop. Since, it was currently airing. The fact that they story was about 4 men in their 40s wasn't appealing to me, because I thought it would be a older version of Boys Over Flower, but I was SUPER wrong!!!
Every one of the characters were wonderfully portrayed - the concerned brother and friend(Im Tae San), the playful one (Rok), the one considered wise and smart (Choi Yoon) and the gentleman himself (Kim Do Jin). The characters were awesomely developed, their roles are clearly distinct. And for females - The one considered a player (Hong Se Ra), the rich and older one (Park Min Sook), the young and love driven one (Im MaehRi) and the lead female (Kim Ha Neul).
This drama really portrays what it means to be in the 40s, what it means to be loved and love, and what it means to really be matured and to be a gentleman. Plus, the actors are A list actors. The romance in AGD was neatly done, in the sense that each couple has a different concept and these concepts were neatly portrayed.
The OSTs are DAEBAK!!!
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