Varia
Great acting but with a subpar script
If only the script had been better! The combination of Lee Seung Gi and Lee Se Young could have made this the best drama of the year. Instead, we got a hot mess of cliches, occasional great one-liners, a few poignant moments in-between telegraphed writing, some non-sensical action sequences and a main plot that was underdeveloped and thus felt like it dragged on too long. The one saving grace of the script is the humor, which the actors played to the hilt (all of them, not just the leads).
The saving grace of the overall drama is the acting of the two leads, who somehow manage to deliver some pretty ridiculous lines with enough conviction to draw you in. They're veterans, they've worked together before, and it shows. Oh, and their kissing scenes are hot even by American standards.
The first 10-11 episodes are definitely better than the latter ones. LSG said in interviews that they didn't necessarily follow the script, in order to make their characters more believable. The interviews were given two thirds through filming. I guess towards the end everyone more or less gave up on improving the script. It took several nosedives in the last few episodes.
Even though this was far from a best drama of the year, I feel that LSG deserves Best Actor just for salvaging the script. Knowing now the private hell that he was (and is) going through, I must say I'm even more impressed with his acting. No one would guess that happy-go-lucky JungHo was preparing for the battle of his life in reality, though it probably didn't take much acting to portray his sense of betrayal from family. I found LSY's acting generally strong, too, but her crying scenes were unconvincing.
I enjoy rewatching scenes from this drama, but I don't think I could sit through a whole episode again.
Still, overall I gave it a 9 b/c there is enough in there (humor, acting, hot scenes and some nice one-liners) that it's worth checking out. Also, from a sense of nostalgia, as this is probably LSG's last romcom, and he filmed it under great duress. I suspect he'll focus on 'grown-up' roles from now on, where his character doesn't need to look like an overgrown teenager. At least, his new movie seems to point in that direction.
The saving grace of the overall drama is the acting of the two leads, who somehow manage to deliver some pretty ridiculous lines with enough conviction to draw you in. They're veterans, they've worked together before, and it shows. Oh, and their kissing scenes are hot even by American standards.
The first 10-11 episodes are definitely better than the latter ones. LSG said in interviews that they didn't necessarily follow the script, in order to make their characters more believable. The interviews were given two thirds through filming. I guess towards the end everyone more or less gave up on improving the script. It took several nosedives in the last few episodes.
Even though this was far from a best drama of the year, I feel that LSG deserves Best Actor just for salvaging the script. Knowing now the private hell that he was (and is) going through, I must say I'm even more impressed with his acting. No one would guess that happy-go-lucky JungHo was preparing for the battle of his life in reality, though it probably didn't take much acting to portray his sense of betrayal from family. I found LSY's acting generally strong, too, but her crying scenes were unconvincing.
I enjoy rewatching scenes from this drama, but I don't think I could sit through a whole episode again.
Still, overall I gave it a 9 b/c there is enough in there (humor, acting, hot scenes and some nice one-liners) that it's worth checking out. Also, from a sense of nostalgia, as this is probably LSG's last romcom, and he filmed it under great duress. I suspect he'll focus on 'grown-up' roles from now on, where his character doesn't need to look like an overgrown teenager. At least, his new movie seems to point in that direction.
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