This review may contain spoilers
Great romantic legal drama
9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 South Korean romantic legal drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.First I will provide a synopsis then review.
Synopsis
Some events in life shape us dramatically. Kim Yu-ri (Lee Se-young) lost her father in a tragic accident as a high school student. The fact that the accident was preventable had the company followed better safety standards made her determined to become a lawyer and focus on improving the safety and work quality for workers in Korea. It becomes her life's mission. She went to high school and college with Kim Jeong-ho (Lee Seung-gi) and they were romantically involved until he discovered that his family was involved in the corruption behind Yu-ri's father's accident. With strong sense of ancestry and responsibility for family actions, Jeong-ho decides that he and Yu-ri cannot be a couple and, with little indication, disappears from her life. Both were star students who became legal geniuses but Yu-ri has since pursued her passion to fight the underdog while Jeong-ho become so disillusioned he retreated to investigating the case in private while managing some buildings he owns. When Yu-ri is encouraged to retire from her current legal position because she is taking on two many money losing cases, she decides to open a cafe where she not only serves coffee but also legal advice. The location she picks just happens to be in a building Jeong-ho owns and the two are reunited. Yu-ri does not understand why Jeong-ho ended their relationship all those years ago and still harbors feeling for him not realizing he also maintains feelings for her. Can the two bring the corrupt perpetrators to justice? Will the cafe be successful in helping those who desperately need it and sustain Yu-ri enough she can afford to maintain it? Can Yu-ri convince Jeong-ho that the tragedy is not his fault?
Review
The cases were interesting and the friendships and romances were heart warming. It is a very good legal drama and I recommend it for anyone that likes romantic legal dramas.
Spoilers* Jeong-ho's reluctance to start a romance with Yu-ri was hard to understand as the series wore on. I understood, at first, the whole sins of my father angle and while that is not so much a thing in American culture I could understand it from what I know of Korean culture. But, with that, you either let it go or pursue it. As is so often the case I felt like he should just tell her what his father had done and let her decide if it was too much for her. I loved her unshakable sense of justice. How she would fight for the underdog even knowing it might cause her hardship. I did not feel the loop on Jeong-ho's father was completely closed. An honest discussion between him and his son explaining why he did some of the things he did might have mended their relationship sooner. I liked that they had reunited in the end. To me it was not in character for Yu-ri to be so reluctant to marry. Those that are reluctant usually experience bad relationships all around them. But her mother had a good relationship with her father up until his accidental death and then re-married and had a good relationship with her step-father so her fear of commitment did not make sense. It was also a little frustrating to have Jeong-ho come around and she is now the one, in the latter half of the series, who isn't sure if they can be together long term. I loved that it ended with a wedding. I am a fan of the "happily ever after" and I love all the wardrobe and seeing them all dressed up like that. There was just enough after story after the wedding to know what direction their lives were headed without going overboard and restarting the story.
#lawcafe
#Leeseyoung
#Leeseunggi
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A bit of a Drag
The only reason I wanted to watch The Law Cafe was because of Lee Seung Gi. I loved his work in Mouse and Vagabond. But The Law Cafe is a total let down.Although I can feel what message the story writers wanted to send and that the intention was good, the execution was pretty poor. To the point that I took 3 months just to finish the drama. It was hard to get through even when it got interesting. The final take down was not the least bit exciting. If anything, it was quite non-sensical.
As for the romance, I didn't get into the chemistry of the leads to begin with or rather, I felt that they had no chemistry. If you enjoy bickering couples then this might be a show you could enjoy. What I did appreciate is the talk of consent and that the female lead was strong and motivated. Male lead was kind and supportive. I also liked the secondary couple - the policewoman and her husband but not much of their story is explored.
The cases were okay but mostly the plot was forgettable.
I feel bad for rating this low because the actors all worked hard but I had to speed up the last 3 episodes just to finish the drama. The show was decent around episode 8 but I just could not connect deeply with any of the characters. It will be a bit more appealing if you love slice of life or melodramas but not as a romance or law drama.
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Great Casting / Okay Storyline
It was okay. It wasn’t an 9 star drama, but it wasn’t an 8 star drama, so I rounded it up to 9 stars. I 100% watched this drama for Lee Seung Gi. I loved him in Busted (the reality variety show) and Korean Odyssey. I was disappointed when Mouse released because it was such an intense graphic drama, I couldn’t stomach to watch it, so to my surprise, I was really happy when he decided to do a rom-com.I thought Lee Se Young was amazing in Crowned Clown, The Red Sleeve and adorable in Korean Odyssey, so I was really happy with the casting.
The drama started out really funny and I’m all about the premise. I liked the idea of a Law Café, where you offer lawyer services at a coffee shop, how unique right? To me, I guess I enjoyed the first half more. I liked the lighter tone and I liked the rag-tag cast.
You got the part-time guy workers (great eye candy), the newly parents best friends and the odd ball client here and there. I was interested in the mini-problems the main leads would help solve.
The tension between the main leads was hit or miss for me. Sometimes the comedy was awkward and forced and sometimes it was cute. I wasn’t really sold on the chemistry but there were plenty of screen time between the main leads, so if you are a fan of the actors, there you go.
For me it went downhill towards the second half of the series, where they focused on the inner-core of the story. Maybe I just didn’t really connect with the whole sexual harassment and taking down the dirty old men storyline? It was just so dragged out and I felt like everyone was just yelling over each other.
I don’t speak Korean, but even the cursing was getting too much for me. Everyone was cursing, everyone was resulting into physical violence and just well.. had a temper. I guess it was for TV / comedy sake, but it started to be really repetitive.
I also found some parts very boring and dragged out. I think at some parts I would just play on my phone because there really wasn’t any movement.
Overall, it was an okay show. I would watch it for the casting or if you like the lawyer troupe, other than that, it wasn’t one of my favorites (it was no Korean Odyssey !)
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UH!
I mean it was a beautiful kdrama, I liked it but through the serie there were things that I absolutely hated,the main characters not saying things that were SO EASY to say,many fights and I personally, I don't like when old people are trying to be cute and shit, there were this two old ladies who THE WHOLE DRAMA were trying to be cute,no, they just looked annoying and cringe!! Everytime they showed on the screen and were trying to be shit I almost dropped it. I'm glad that I didn't drop it, but man ,THEY WERE ANNOYING! If you are like me and hate that type of characters I advise you to not start this drama bcs it's not worth it...Was this review helpful to you?
An Enjoyable Watch
I watched this drama as it was airing and always looked forward to the next episode, a sure sign that a drama is pretty good. If watching feels like a chore, why bother? Yes, yes, of course I have slogged through a couple of shows I really didn’t enjoy – but this one I did. Here’s why:1. Interesting premise. Our heroine opens a café with a legal aid office and deals with different issues such as bullying, child neglect and sexual harassment in a very refreshing and no-nonsense way. The cases were interesting and showed the human aspect, not court proceedings.
2. Strong female lead. I really liked the main character a lot. She is outspoken without being obnoxious, dedicated, with a strong sense for what is right and what is wrong. Excellently portrayed by Lee Se Young.
3. Surprisingly good romance. While the “fake dating turns into the real thing” is nothing new, it was still very well executed und even unexpectedly passionate.
There were a few things I didn’t like. Some of the supporting characters were annoying, like the ahjummas and the over-the-top crazy uncle. The café staff, on the other hand, was pretty good. One had an interesting backstory and the other was portrayed by Kim Do Hoon, who played a poor tortured soul in Today’s Webtoon. It was delightful to see him as a happy camper here.
The writing was rather uneven. The show wavered between interesting scenes and dull dialogues, total clichés like the murdered father (are there any fathers actually surviving in Korea?) and fresh scenarios like openly discussing birth control. A scene would be pretty boring and then suddenly a character would elevate it by uttering some profound wisdom. I was struck by this several times.
Would I watch it again? Hm, maybe some scenes. It is well worth a one-time watch though, if for nothing else than the memorable female lead.
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The Scam Cafe
Right off the bat the technical problems were too glaring to ignore. The washed out black levels were a true eye sore that I had to make a custom color profile for it through the media player. A big portion of the drama was shot in direct bright sun light which amplified the problem even further. Enough technicality, the drama was supposed to offer a mix of romance, comedy and law, although hints of these genres do exist but the drama did an outstanding job in failing miserably with incorporating and mixing each one of them. They may throw some cheap lines within the legal field but that wasn't enough to qualify it to slap the law genre tag, let alone its name. I find it hard to believe that someone would find this funny. I think even our primitive ancestors would have a hard time with it. Finally, anything involving the romance as a concept was unquestionably broken. They couldn't even have a chemistry running despite being the first step for any kind of romance. Lee Seung Gi shouldn't have accepted this project. For dramas that waste 90% of its runtime on absolute nothingness, this drama would have a strong placement in my Top 10. With all that being said, unfortunately, this drama isn't the worst of its kind; I've seen worse.Was this review helpful to you?
Started strong, identity crisis midway
This was very promising at the beginning, with interesting characters, a good story line, and entertaining writing. But midway, when the ML decides he actually loves the FL, it becomes mawkishly saccharine and the writing loses its crispness in favor of predictable sentiment. The story them morphs into a "Me,Too" polemic, with a lot of added drama and conflict that seems tacked on as an afterthought in an attempt to spice it up. By the last episodes I found I no longer cared about the characters, with the FL's indecision and the ML's family issues. Seems popular to make the MLs weak and simpering characters these days, led around by the FLs and basically becoming so sympathetic and understanding that they are doormats. It's still not awful, but overall it seemed a bit of a mess to me. YMMV.Was this review helpful to you?
If you don't like silly dramas with exaggerated scenes, stay away.
7/10 Amazing with some not-so-great moments. It's silly and cute with some social justice points and mildly inappropriate romance. wouldn't be comfy watching it with my mom, but can recommend it to peers. Though this one is full of flaws in my personal opinion, I still enjoyed it and can easily recommend it.PROS:
I love how much he loved her and how he fought for her and vice versa for her at the start. There wasn't any unnecessary, "let's break up and be apart for something we can get over in two seconds if we just talk it out," kind of stuff. I also loved how even if sometimes it felt preachy, in the end, they always tried to kind of balance it out. It left a smile on my face.
The supporting characters and even the villain are just phenomenal. they made the story sometimes. You will be laughing your face off and then crying at some points as they touch on a lot of issues.
It's a happy ending and I am a sucker for those.
I'm not someone who likes to complain about plots or acting or OST because I go with the flow of the story and accept it as it is. I don't criticize the writer or blame it on the attitudes of FL or ML.
CONs:
So now that you know this, it's shocking to me that this story had so many unwarranted highs and lows with the love story, that it made me consider badmouthing the plotline in my mind, which I never do. I just hated how she always treated him like crap and he had to apologize for everything, even though he had her best interest in mind.
It also felt a little too preachy with the girl power. I'm sick of this girl power, independent woman crap that keeps getting shoved down everyone's throats in American media and now seems to be infiltrating my safe space with K-dramas. they even had to ruin her style to do it(the ugly dress, in the end, distracted the audience from the story because it was so questionable and cheap).
This honestly was the most immodestly dressed FL I've ever seen and I've watched a TON of dramas. I like K-dramas for their purity and innocence. this one broke that. if you're into that then I guess you'll love the 16+ rated scenes. I didn't. Also dislike how they turned FL into an insufferable person at times for her wild takes that made no sense.
But if you wanna have a laugh and you don't care about innocence and purity or rollercoaster love journeys, then watch it. You'll have a blast.
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It has bigger potencial...but...
I give 4* because of Jo Han-Chul. I only know him as a positive character, and here he gave such psycho-switched scenes that I was incredibly fascinated. The other characters did not significantly surprise, but they did not disrupt the series either. I know the I-love-you-but-pretend-to-hate-you type of relationship rejection is corny but I enjoyed this Lee-Seung Gi fest as well as the constant bickering between the main characters in the beginning. The character of the clever and wise main female character is great. Perhaps the chemistry between the main characters on the part of Lee Se-Yeong was a little lame for me. Lee Seung-Gi was great and played it really well, but I feel that it was somehow cold from the female character's side. More emotions went out of her in The Red Sleeve with Lee Jun-Ho. On the other hand, Ahn Dong Goo was throwing such glances here that he deserves more space and scenes :). Overall, it was a fun watch, had a lot of funny scenes, and dealt with important legal issues along the way.Was this review helpful to you?
fun To Watch
I started watching this drama because Lee Seung Gi is one of my favorite actors and singer. I new he would not let me down on this drama. I was right his performance was great. I fell in love with both lead characters. I love the lead female character with her strength, demanding, yelling and harshness on crooked and evilness. I loved her compaction and humanity for the victims. I love the male leading character conviction, commitment, and honesty. I love how he would appear coldhearted but yet he really was kind and loving. All the characters in this drama was great. The characters in the café made the whole Idea of the café fit into the story. The actors did a great performance which made the story sincere and believable. The twist and surprises in each episode made you wanting more. Great ending and great story.Was this review helpful to you?
Storyline meh, chemistry great!
First few episodes were a little hard to swallow. It’s the typical Korean shouting, bickering, slapstick humour which I don’t particularly like. I initially didn’t really like it- the typical over-reacting, the bickering and shouting, the humour etc... but it started to grow on me after a few episodes and I found myself more drawn to it. Not your typical law drama, nor your typical romance drama. The FL character is somewhat interesting- she’s loud, VERY outspoken, has no filter and will just tell you exactly what she thinks IN YOUR FACE! ??Some eps are more interesting than others..Up till around Epi 14 it was quite engaging. The villain however was just too overdone and annoying. Last two episodes was kinda dull.. so in terms of storyline it was a 7, but the chemistry between the leads was a 9. Some nice PDA scenes in Epi 11&12, and it’s a happy ending.
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Though it's always predictable to see the rich and problematic businessman who does all certain things to get what he wants.
The comedic part on bits and pieces makes it enjoyable to watch without having it too heavy to digest.
Both Lee Seunggi and Lee Seyoung did a fantastic job in the comedic aspect, as for the serious acting we don't need to doubt it. But my scene stealer would be Ahn Donggoo and Kim DoHoon, it seems like they are only supporting but their supports really makes the whole team completed.
Would love to see Kim DoHoon on another project, and I hope his career will be brighter along the way.
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