Almost Famous (2020)

Refreshingly Mature Web Drama

I discovered this web drama by chance. I'm a fan of Standing Egg and one of their songs is in the OST, so I decided to check it out. I was intrigued also by the low rating but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The acting was really good and natural, both by the leads and the supporting characters. I especially liked the 2 schoolgirl fans. They were really funny! The friendship between Sori and her ex-bandmates, as well as her best friends were really fun to watch too. Even the conversations Sori had with Woojin were also mature and meaningful.

Perhaps the mockumentary style put some people off. It did feel a little strange at first, and I think I would have enjoyed it as much if it was filmed in the "normal" way. That said, I think this is the main reason why most people won't be able to get into this drama, as it doesn't follow a typical narrative arc. It's mainly driven by specific topics, and doesn't show everything, a little like how in Hospital Playlist certain major events are not fleshed out but instead we see how characters respond to the event instead. That might make the drama feel a little disjointed or shallow. However I did enjoy it's topical, slice of life style, so it could be personal preference!

One thing I didn't quite like was the colour grading of the scenes. Aside from the interviews, they looked like they had heavy Instagram filters applied to it. All the shots were nice to look at, no doubt, but it felt a bit too airbrushed for my taste.

I thought Almost Famous brought up a side of the celebrity world I don't really think about. We tend to be exposed mostly to the very visible popular celebrities who've made it, but what about the many others who are putting in their very best to succeed? I like how the drama dealt with the issue about persevering at your dream despite the very real doubts an concerns that people around you have, because they care for you and they have your best interests at heart.

It was an easy watch, I binged all 16 eps in one sitting. I highly recommend this!

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Good Enough

" Almost famous " or " Half Celebrity " was an original drama. It shows the struggles of young actress So Ri, who is trying to be famous for seven years (I think it was seven...) and she still is living an ordinary life, even though she is starting to get recognized.

The story was ambitious and it was filmed in the format of a documentary (I guess a mockumentary), however, it felt chopped, like they edited scenes together, or, rather, they spread the story too thinly. Because it was character-centered, it would have been better if they didn't add that romance story in it and they had rather focused more on her relationship with her ex band members, her career and her journey overall. Unfortunately, many things were skipped forward regarding her career and they opted for a half baked romance and an open ending, which, actually, for me at least, it fitted the personality of the main character.

For the performances, as the drama focused on So Ri, you get most of the scenes with her. The actress did a great job with every scene and she was a delight to watch. The rest of the cast was very professional and enjoyable.

So, overall, five out of ten for this webdrama.

PS I usually rate with a scale from 1 to 8 when it comes to web series

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