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Hometown's Embrace thai drama review
Completed
Hometown's Embrace
2 people found this review helpful
by j729
Aug 15, 2021
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

I think this is a nice little low-budget film and it is worth watching.

I am attempting to not spoil things here with the following, so forgive me for being a bit vague at times. There seems to be a lot of criticism here regarding the actors, and the story. I will try to address them one at a time.

The actors are inexperienced, and you see it occasionally. But I thought they did a decent job considering they are young and this is their first or one of their first professional (or at least credited) performances. I am sure they (and the studio) don't have the resources that a large studio like GMM does for acting coaches, workshops, and all that. For me, it wasn't a big deal. I think they overall did a better job than Gun did in Golden Blood. Now THAT was some cheesy acting!

Going along with that, some complained the couples didn't have much chemistry. I wasn't bothered by that much either, they all had just met, they were just beginning their relationships, it was not much more than dating. I didn't expect them to be doing much more than holding hands or giving each other "the eyes" at this stage. To me, that felt pretty realistic, more so than how some other dramas have portrayed people who are in the first stages of a relationship.

The story was a little thin at times, and occasionally felt rushed or like parts were left out. I don't think this is a huge deal if you accept that this is not a large budget picture with tons of writers, producers, and all that. It really isn't fair to compare this to SOTUS, Tale of a Thousand Stars, or anything of that nature. The message is what is more important here, and that was very clear. And it is an important message to get out there, and admirable they tackled this topic in an LGBT+ drama. I think a good editor could have made this a lot more slick, and resolved a lot of peoples complaints about this series, but it would have lost the charm.

There were some things that were a bit silly. or didn't fit in quite right. The fight scene with the gangsters being one. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I think they were trying to avoid a violent show here, and these bits of comedy while they seem out of place, served a function. The ex-girlfriend and the other teacher is another that were sort of out of place and the story would have been fine without them for the most part. It would have left more time for other things if they were cut. The product placements were a necessary evil, but a bit annoying and disrupted the flow, although we did get some nice shirtless scenes out if the soap ad.

I would like to see a follow up of a few episodes or a 2 hour long movie to see if things improved in the village, and how the couples did after maybe a year (TV year, not a real year).

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