This review may contain spoilers
Fundamentals are key
In a lot of ways, a story doesn't need to try and subvert a person's expectations on what is to be expected. Like a boxer with a good straight/jab, sometimes it's just as good to have the basics nailed down and done well to keep you interested and satisfied. And within Filing for Love, those fundamentals are well set in stone, and well executed on.
What might look like your standard Korean drama romantic comedy is more or less that. But where FFL excels is its ability to make the viewer care for the wider story, and feel satisfied in how it ultimately ends. In something like a romantic comedy that is most importantly portrayed by the two leads and how the writers make them come together, and there is no denying that the two leads in FFL do well. Shin Hae-su is by far the stand out here, but Gong Myoung as well has a great comedic ability that is buoyed by the first half of the series having a great pace in terms of scenarios of office politics and rule breakers. Team Three in general is well fleshed out in terms of their personalities and what they contribute to the team, and by the end, you care for them as much as you do the two leads.
Unfortunately, the secondary relationship between Hong Hwa Yeon and Kim Jae Uck does not pass the mustard as much as the leads do - mainly because both of them are nowhere near as compelling in terms of characters, or provide a reason to care other then their prior relationships with the main leads.
Even if this is a 'low' rating, this is about as glowing of a 7.5 as you can get. Will I watch this again and again? No, probably not. But I'm glad I did, because it goes to show that doing things well in service of a specific sub-genre is worth its weight in gold, especially in a world where writers and directors are trying desperately to subvert audience expectations in order to satisfy an ever-increasingly jaded watching public.
What might look like your standard Korean drama romantic comedy is more or less that. But where FFL excels is its ability to make the viewer care for the wider story, and feel satisfied in how it ultimately ends. In something like a romantic comedy that is most importantly portrayed by the two leads and how the writers make them come together, and there is no denying that the two leads in FFL do well. Shin Hae-su is by far the stand out here, but Gong Myoung as well has a great comedic ability that is buoyed by the first half of the series having a great pace in terms of scenarios of office politics and rule breakers. Team Three in general is well fleshed out in terms of their personalities and what they contribute to the team, and by the end, you care for them as much as you do the two leads.
Unfortunately, the secondary relationship between Hong Hwa Yeon and Kim Jae Uck does not pass the mustard as much as the leads do - mainly because both of them are nowhere near as compelling in terms of characters, or provide a reason to care other then their prior relationships with the main leads.
Even if this is a 'low' rating, this is about as glowing of a 7.5 as you can get. Will I watch this again and again? No, probably not. But I'm glad I did, because it goes to show that doing things well in service of a specific sub-genre is worth its weight in gold, especially in a world where writers and directors are trying desperately to subvert audience expectations in order to satisfy an ever-increasingly jaded watching public.
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