Koh Rak Gon Hua Jai (2021)

Not fantastic but not terrible either

I can't say that I loved this one, but I didn't hate it either. It's a lakorn with a good storyline but it does rely heavily on some classic lakorn cliches. We have the playboy male lead character (ML), the fiesty female lead (FL), controlling parents who plowed ahead with their plans for their children without ever considering their feelings or opinions. We have a dumb as brother who refuses to admit his love for someone which drives one plot element right to breaking point. We have a nastyno good father, an adorable little boy, a crazy slutty girlfriend, a sweet second female lead (SFL) who is just lovely and stays steadfast and true to her love but again, (as with all the adult children in this lakorn), obeys whatever ridiculous plan herparents order for her. There is deception, trust issues, manipulation, over bearing parents, dumbly obedient children and downright nastiness from a few of the characters. There are a lot of supporting characters in this-and I mean a lot- which of course means that the leads don't have as much screen time. What screen time they did have was done pretty well. Their chemistry was good but don't except much skinship between the leads at all, although there are a couple of real kisses which is nice for a change.
THE STORY
Flowed well, with a lot of subplots but it still manages to tell the story well. There's a strong emphasis on nature preservation and an idyllic island setting with some interesting cultural elements as well. There's some corporate intrigue, a strongly developed romance plot between the two lead couples and a strong secondary plotline about the fight for child custody. The story is strongly character driven. I did skip some scenes with the second lead couple because I didn't find their story very interesting. There were multiple tension points through out which kept me watching to the end, although I did find it a bit draggy in places.
THE CHARACTERS
I think at one point or other I ending up disliking all the main characters to some degree, but also liking them in other parts of the story. The ML starts off quite obnoxious and I spent the first three or fours eps wishing he'd learn to keep his pants on. He experiences a strong character growth and becomes quite likeable in the last half, whereas the FL is tough and feisty and likeable in the first half but for three eps turns into a nasty b***h until a misunderstanding is cleared up. I really disliked her for those eps. For some of the eps I felt quite anxious because it seemed as though all the problems kept multiplying and there could be no solution to ensure happiness at the end. But surprisingly everything did wrap up beautifully.
THE CAST
Did very well overall. When as a viewer you can suspend your disbelief and really get involved in the characters and their make believe world, you know that the actors have done their job very well. The two leads were very natural together and did great. The mother character was really unlikeable to me so that actress did very well. Blew did a very good job because in the beginning I really disliked his promiscuous, self absorbed character but I grew to like him a lot as he changed and grew. Noey as FakFah was okay but less convincing to me. The others were all good. The one I have trouble with is Kana who plays the slutty girlfriend and I think it's because she plays them so well. She's very good but unfortunately this is the second role I've seen her in and she plays the same type and I disliked them both immensely. She did play her character with comedy elements in this one. I wish I could see the poor girl playing a good, wholesome character and then perhaps I wouldn't automatically dislike her characters so much. The child actor who played Plawin is adorable.
THE MUSIC
Some nice islander type music and the song the kids did for their performance was really catchy. Other than that I didn't really pay that much attention but I'm not musically orientated so that may be why.
THE SETTING
A gorgeous island setting with some lovely cinematography of the islands, ocean and nature. Really added an extra layer of enjoyment.
OVERALL
Neither fantastic, nor horrible. It is a good storyline which a lot of people witll find enjoyable but some others will not get hooked into it. Worth a watch but I probably won't have it on my re-watch list.

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