This review may contain spoilers
Improbable, Feel-Good Fairy Tale
How likely is it that three half brothers, sharing the same father, turn out to be gay? How likely is it they all confess to their love interest on the same day? "Because of You" plays like an easy-breezy fairy tale with too many contrived coincidences. Lin Xun (Mu Ji Hsu) is the most grounded and believable character as the maybe, long lost fourth sibling. He turns out not to be blood-related so his love interest, Yuan Jung Cheng (Lee Shi Kang), is free to romance him. Early on, both men say they're open to dating a guy but have never done so. But when they end up in bed together, after a drunken night out, Yuan Jung Chen goes into an inexplicable, almost effeminate gay panic. That's inconsistent with his character on several levels. Then he spends time finding out how you can tell if you've had gay sex. Why would this even be an issue, given he's been established as gay man and that he likes Lin Xun? The other brothers are more or less sub-plots. They already have "maybe boyfriends" at the onset of the drama that they finally confess to in the final episode. It's all a bit too paint-by-the-numbers. The early kidnapping scene really undermines the credibility of the relationship between the two leads because it paints Yuan Jun Cheng as a violent predator, unworthy of anyone's love, never mind a trophy boyfriend like Lin Xun. On the plus side, we're spared the usual gay stereotypes. These are everyday guys who love other guys. For that, and Mu Ji Hsu's wonderful performance, I can recommend it.
Was this review helpful to you?